Furlough Days Cut Page 3
Smithsonian Exhibit Page 6
Participants Needed For Run Page 7 NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, MARYLAND VOLUME 70, NUMBER 31
Celebrating 70 years of community partnership
August 8, 2013
Terrapin nesting survey nears completion Volunteers study base shores for signs of state reptile
By Donna Cipolloni Tester staff writer For the past two months, Sarah Funck and her group of volunteers have spent every day walking the beaches of Naval Air Station Patuxent River searching for the elusive nests of the Diamondback Terrapin turtle. The team is trying to find out what they can about the installation’s terrapin population and their nesting habits. “We knew [the turtles] were here, but we didn’t know much else,” said Funck, a Student Conservation Association intern working with the Pax River natural resources department. “So the purpose of the study was to gain any information we could — the number of turtles, the number of nests, where they nest, what beaches they use and to what extent, how many eggs are laid, predation rates, etc.” Pax River Conservation Director Kyle Rambo described the turtles as “a species of conservation concern” and explained that the base’s substantial waterfront property provides a fair amount of potential
nesting habitat. “We want to know how much habitat we have that’s being utilized by terrapins, how our nesting success rates compare within the region, and just how important our habitat is to the species,” he said. Funck’s team started in June and concentrated on three beaches — Cedar Point, Hog Point and the waterfront behind the Beach House — and went out once per day around high tide, when females might be prone to float in and search for a suitable nesting site. “The females will crawl, sometimes long distances, from the shoreline,” Funck said. “They’ll smell the area, use visual clues and find a safe spot to dig their nest, using their back flippers as shovels to scoop the sand out and toss it to the side until they create a shallow flask-shaped egg chamber.” Funck explained that when the female is satisfied with the nest, she will lay around 10 to 15 pinkish eggs that will harden, calcify and turn white after a few days in a process called “chalking.” And then she’s gone. “They don’t tend their nests,” she said. “They go back to the water and do not
return. From that point on, the babies are on their own.” It isn’t often a female is witnessed laying eggs or even approaching the beach, so Funck’s team learned to identify the subtle signs of nesting like tracks in the sand or disturbances, such as churned up sand or sand sprayed against nearby vegetation. If the eggs were freshly laid, they were gently dug up and measured before being replaced and covered with a cage to protect them from predators. Older eggs are left undisturbed as handling those eggs could kill the embryo, Funck explained. The average incubation period is approximately 60 days. To date, 84 terrapin nests were documented and the team managed to cage and protect 29 of them. “Sadly, the others were eaten by predators such as raccoons, foxes, great blue herons or crows,” Funck said. “They have a low survival rate, even if they make it to hatchlings.” As part of the study, volunteers continue checking the cages for signs of hatching and then excavate the eggshells to determine the hatching success of a particular clutch — how many eggs were in the nest, how many incubated successfully and how many emerged successfully, although de-
Courtesy photo
Student Conservation Association intern Sarah Funck worked with a team of volunteers to conduct a survey of the nesting habits of the Diamondback Terrapins that populate Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The terrapin, the state reptile of Maryland, can live up to 40 years, but one of its biggest threats is the crab trap, where the smaller of the species can become trapped and drown. termining exactly how many hatchlings actually make it to the water is difficult. Terrapin nesting season is from June 1 through early August, so this year’s study is nearing completion. Rambo said Funck’s academic background and specific experience in herpetol-
ogy made her an ideal candidate to conduct the study and Funck is hoping to be able to return next year. “I’m happy to be working [at Pax River],” she said. “This is a beautiful base and the natural resources department here is on par with everything I value. Their
mission matches my personal interests and I hope to come back again to continue the terrapin study.” For more information on the species, visit the Maryland Department of Natural Resources website at www. dnr.maryland.gov and search diamondback terrapin.
Pax River Chief selects Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 1 Luis S. Bento, Eric Krahn, Gabriel R. Lovett, Gregory S. Myers, Francisco L. Pyle, Johnny Rogers and Travis J. Wilkinson
Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 20 Quentin Thomas, Clint Zimmerman, James Birchett and Kasey Bruce Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 Michael E. Voellm, Von W. Callender, Noel A. Dejesus and Ryan Kirk Nineteen petty officers first class at Naval Air Station Patuxent River started
the next chapter of their naval careers Aug. 1. The selectees, by squadron, are:
Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator (BAMS-D) Michael Karas
Fleet and Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 4 Charlie Ortiz
Naval Air Systems Command Logistics and Industrial Operations (NAVAIR 6.0) Antoine Niblett Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station, Patuxent River Arthur Dunford Scientific Development Squadron (VXS) 1 Jeremey Harwell