Posted: September 1, 2023
Turtle Takeover at River House
This summer, Ottawa Riverkeeper partnered with Petrie Island Turtle Project to incubate over 400 turtle eggs at our science lab in River House. We’re sharing the full story of these eggs, from collection to release!
All eight species of turtles in the Ottawa River watershed are at risk and in need of protection. The turtle species commonly found at Petrie Island – Snapping Turtles, Painted Turtles and Northern Map Turtles – are all considered species of special concern in Canada. To protect these populations, biologist Malcolm Fenech and the Petrie Island Turtle Project collected turtle eggs at Petrie Island throughout the month of June. Without intervention, up to 95 % of turtle eggs at Petrie Island would be eaten by predators such as raccoons and skunks.
Collection and Incubation
Turtle nests can be difficult to find, but Malcolm and volunteers from the Petrie Island community are sometimes able to spot a turtle while she lays her eggs. After the mother leaves, Malcolm collects the eggs from the nest. Mark Bernards from Ottawa Riverkeeper was with Malcolm on one of these lucky days and got some spectacular photos of a snapping turtle laying a clutch. The Petrie Island community helped out as well, contacting the Turtle Project on social media when they found a nest and directing the team to the location.
Malcolm collected freshly laid eggs from their sandy nests and labelled them carefully. From there, they brought over 400 eggs to the science lab at River House and transferred the eggs to tupperware containers filled with damp vermiculite to keep them from drying out. Finally, the eggs were incubated at a toasty daytime temperature of 28 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius overnight. Besides keeping them comfortable, the temperature of the incubator determines the sex of the turtles when they hatch. At this temperature, the clutches will hatch as 60 percent females and 40 percent males.
Hatch and Release
For two months the eggs vacationed in the incubator. Then, on August 4th, the first egg hatched, and a baby map turtle joined the team at River House. The hatchling was transferred to an aquarium and released back at Petrie Island a few days later.
The baby turtles have been incredibly popular with visitors to the Learning Lab and the turtle lovers who have followed the project on social media, not to mention with Ottawa Riverkeeper staff!
Thirteen turtle release days were scheduled at Petrie Island, with spots for 30 volunteers on each outing – all 390 spots filled up the first day the trips were announced.
The first release took place on August 8th, and 30 volunteers gathered to watch as 10 Northern Map Turtles were returned to the Ottawa River from the Petrie Island shores. Mark Bernards joined Malcolm and the volunteers for one of these releases and captured some amazing photos and videos of the turtles taking their first strokes in the river.
Opportunities for education
On August 20th Riverkeeper Laura Reinsborough hosted Turtle Day at River House. Together with Malcolm Fenech, they welcomed a whopping 290 visitors into the Learning Lab over the course of three hours!
Malcolm shared his knowledge about turtles in the Ottawa River watershed, answered questions, and even brought along some V.I.T.s (Very Important Turtles) for visitors to meet. Already, our new learning and science spaces at River House are bringing people together to learn, experience, and help the watershed!
It has been gratifying to see so much interest in these at-risk species. Freshwater turtle populations are declining globally due to habitat destruction or alteration, road mortality, poaching, bycatch in fisheries, and invasive species. We’re glad to participate in the protection of turtles and inspire others to do the same!
Ottawa Riverkeeper’s partnership with the Petrie Island Turtle Project is just one part of our larger efforts to preserve and protect endangered species in the watershed. Many of these species, like the Lake Sturgeon and its symbiotic partner, the Hickorynut, cannot be as easily introduced to the public – even though they are vital and fascinating members of our watershed community! The American eel is another endangered species Ottawa Riverkeeper is working to protect. We recently released an open letter to Hydro Quebec, urging them to include an eel ladder in their renovations of Carillon Dam.
We are grateful to Petrie Island Turtle Project for their partnership, their work in species protection, and the opportunity to host the eggs and hatchlings at River House. They may be tiny, but these baby turtles are mighty ambassadors for all the at-risk species in our watershed!
Very exciting and important work. Great job.
Did you find and Musk Turtles?
Hi Jason, as far as we know Malcolm only saw the three species of turtles commonly found at Petrie Island, which are Snapping Turtles, Painted Turtles and Northern Map Turtles.
Is this an effort that will continue in future years, and are there any plans to expand into parts of the watershed where blandings turtles may be found?
Hi Kate, great question! Our hope is to continue the program in future years, but this has yet to be confirmed. At this time there are no plans to expand the work to new areas of the watershed, but if the program does continue to be successful it might be something we could explore.
This spring, three turtles laid their eggs on on my Ottawa River beach at Luskville, QC. Unfortunately, all of them were ravaged by appreciative raccoons. Does the RiverKeeper have any helpful advice for protecting nest sites so that eggs survive to become hatchlings that return to the river?
Hi Franklin, great question! One option is to create a turlte nest protector. Malcolm mentioned this during the webinar we held in December 2023, which you can watch a recording of here.
For tips on how to make one, here is a brochure with info from the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and here is a link to their page about more general tips for helping turtles. I hope that helps!
We have a painted turtle that layer eggs in the horse paddock. Is there an agency near Perth ontario can will come and same them?