GBA 2020 - Fall Update

www.georgianbay.ca GBA UPDATE Fall 2020 GEORGIAN BAY BIOSPHERE RESERVE By Delaina Arnold, Education & Stewardship Coordinator at Georgian Bay Biosphere A s the sun shines on the edge of a large wetland, more than 100 turtles await their return home as staff of the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR) carry them through the reeds. Three large containers hold the turtle hatchlings, each between four and 10 days old. These are just some of the hatched turtles of the 1,115 eggs that were collected, incubated and will be released. A safe distance from the road, the hatchlings are lowered to greet the shallow water all along the wetland’s edge. Within seconds, their small dark shells are no longer visible as they swim and hide in the murky water that is hopefully their home for decades to come. “ Baamapii mishiikenh ” Biosphere staff say, Anishinaabemowin for “see you later snapping turtle.” The story of how these little turtles came to be in the care of Biosphere staff began in 2019 with the announcement of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s – Community Nominated Priority Place – (CNPP) designation. This is a special recognition of the ongoing conservation work in this region – one of only 15 such places in Canada – that came with funding over four years to support biodiversity work. The eastern coast of Georgian Bay was selected because of the variety and health of species and because of the highly networked and collaborative approaches to conservation that exist and can be strengthened. The CNPP application was submitted by the GBBR and co-applicants Shawanaga First Nation, Magnetawan First Nation and Georgian Bay Land Trust, with considerable support from Wasauksing First Nation and neighbouring municipalities. Each partner is involved in planning and implementing projects related to biodiversity. One of the largest threats to all wildlife, especially reptiles- at-risk, is road mortality. Through the CNPP project, a significant amount of time and resources are being devoted to road-focused projects. Every native species of turtle in Ontario is a species-at-risk, as are several snake species, which is why they require special attention. In 2020, Skerryvore Community Road, 15 minutes north of Parry Sound in the Township of the Archipelago, was deemed a priority due to the extensive culvert replacement work needed and known reptile abundance. The Biosphere team worked with the township, Tatham Engineering, and Hall Construction to mitigate the project impacts and improve reptile safety post-construction. Strategies include: using a cobble fill instead of sand near wetlands to discourage turtles from nesting there; creating new nesting zones away from the road; and removing turtle eggs from construction areas in the spring in order to incubate them and release the hatchlings later in the season. In Ontario, turtle eggs are laid in June and hatch sometime in late August depending on the summer’s weather conditions. The Skerryvore culvert construction was scheduled for July and August. This overlap in timing necessitated a plan to mitigate the impacts to nests in the construction zones. “Since June, we’ve surveyed Skerryvore Community Road by bike for six days each week and Highways 559 and 529 multiple times a week,” said Tianna Burke, conservation biologist with the GBBR. Over 9,000 km will have been travelled by mountain and electric bike by the end of the project. “In June, we found 137 nests and at 42 of these we removed eggs to protect them; however, the rest were scavenged by natural predators, which shows how few actually make it into the wild,” Burke said. “Working alongside the Hall Construction crew, we were alerted to six additional nests that were safely removed. We had over 1,100 eggs in special incubators and after they hatched, each turtle was safely released to their original wetland. They are self-sufficient from the moment they hatch, so we only keep them for a few days while they build their strength,” explained Burke. The handling of turtles for this project was permitted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and would be illegal otherwise. “Caring for turtle eggs is very A Tale of a Thousand Turtles A road survey by bike in progress. Tianna Burke releases hatchlings into a wetland. A Blanding’s turtle emerges from an egg.