Photo by Cris Hagen
Photos by JD Willson (left) and Tom Luhring (right)
Whit Gibbons and JD Willson help pull a seine through a tidal creek while sampling for terrapins.
Two terrapins found in an abandoned crab trap. Unfortunately
one had died.
Whit Gibbons with a terrapin.
showed that the ability of terrapins to survive from one year
to the next was only 61%-82 percent, considerably lower than
that required to maintain stable terrapin populations. A study
published in 2007 showed that changes in the demographics
of Kiawah’s terrapins over two decades were consistent
with extensive terrapin mortality resulting from their
drowning in crab traps. A recent study by another former
Davidson College student, Rebecca McKee, showed that
using bycatch-reduction devices can drastically reduce the
number of terrapins that can enter crab traps. The ongoing
development of Kiawah Island over the last few decades has
likely also had an impact on wildlife populations, including
terrapins. Finally, a study by Kristen Cecala, now a professor
at Sewanee, showed that significant injuries to terrapins
resulting from boat collisions have increased since the mid1980s. Injuries such as this clearly lower terrapin survival.
Although we still find young terrapins periodically, many
of those that remain are old individuals that have managed
to survive. We still find turtles that were first captured as
adults in the 1980s. Although we do not know for sure how
old many of these individuals are, they could very well be
over 50 years old. Old terrapins will continue to reproduce as
long as suitable nesting sites are available. If steps are taken
to preserve nesting habitat and reduce impacts on terrapins,
perhaps over time this once abundant jewel of the Kiawah salt
marshes will again be a common sight. We plan to continue
our studies to monitor the terrapins in the Kiawah salt
marshes to identify and help mitigate the factors that cause
terrapin mortality and population decline. I hope one day to
be able to round the bend in Fiddler Creek and once again
see more terrapins than I can count. NK
This article was improved by comments from J. Whitfield
Gibbons and Jessika Dorcas.
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