The Wetlands Institute is the primary experience for Asian scholars from the Asian Scholarship Program for in-situ Chelonian Conservation (ASPin-situCC). Since the inception of the Asian Scholarship Program in 2000, a total of 16 scholars have been brought to the Wetlands Institute to experience the hands-on terrapin conservation work (I am scholar #16).
The Wetlands Institute focuses on 2 major aspects of the conservation of the diamondback terrapins and other endangered animals in the area — Research and Education. Various research projects are being conducted by the researchers — assessment of the impact of human activities on diamondback terrapins and ways to reduce those impacts, the innovative use of dredged materials and disposal sites to reduce diamondback terrapin mortality, conservation of shorebirds and horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay, incubation of least tern nests, etc.
On the other hand, members of the public who visit the Wetlands Institute will be taken on a guided tour of the marsh and the trail behind the institute. And before the summer began, school groups were also taken to the beach to learn about beach ecology (water temperature, wind speed, salinity) and to the trail to learn about salt marsh ecology.
There is also an Outreach component under Education, and the Educator basically takes students out on a boat and teaches them about the kinds of fish/organisms that they catch. The Educator is also solely in charge of exhibitions, touch tanks (for kids to touch the animals and learn about them) and any other outreach-related stuff.
This is a diamondback terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin. It is believed to be the only turtle that survives in brackish water areas and it is named for the diamond pattern on its carapace. Adult females are usually bigger than the males because the females need to carry eggs in them. The females lay an average of 8 - 12 eggs in a clutch, and they typically lay only one nest in the 6-week-long nesting season, though some terrapins have been documented to lay more than once in the season.
I couldn’t believe Stephanie when she said that we were going to the Mojave (pronounced Moh-Ha-Vee) Desert. I mean, I have read about the desert tortoises and about Mojave Desert but I didn’t know that we were actually near enough to even have time to go visit it!
Anyway, we drove about an hour and a half to get to the Randsburg-Mojave Road which you MUST turn into if you wanted to see the desert tortoises. We did not make the turn at the junction and we landed ourselves in the middle of a desert on a dirt road in a BMW sports car! We had to go as slowly as 5 miles per hour because the roads weren’t paved and we didn’t want a flat tire when we were in the desert
We were given directions to get to the camp ground and we finally made it there, and we were only 30 minutes late!
There was a Desert Tortoise Kiosk at the Desert Tortoise Natural Area (DTNA) and in the kiosk, there were lots of information sheets and brochures about programs that were currently being carried out as well as souvenirs and paintings for sale. There was also a Field Researcher (I feel so bad for forgetting her name) who would be there until sometime in June and she would be there to man the kiosk and to answer any questions that visitors might have.
Now, see this burrow?
That is a home for a desert tortoise! We can roughly tell the size of the tortoise by looking at the size of the burrow. A burrow can be up to 12m in length and 3m in depth. Most tortoises stay in their burrows when we were there because it wasn’t exactly warm enough yet. In fact, it was still cold and wind speed was estimated at between 25 to 35 miles per hour.
But we were very lucky We managed to see 5 desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) on that particular day, and one of them was spotted on the dirt road (not in the burrow)!
Desert tortoises are thought to live 40 - 60 years. They grow relatively slowly and adult females are larger than adult males (for obvious reasons). They typically breed from April to June and the female tortoises lay between 1 and 11 eggs. Incubation period for eggs varies from 80 to more than 100 days.
Also, check out the video that shows the 360-degree view of the desert (don’t view it if you get dizzy easily):
More pictures of the visit to the Mojave Desert here.
As soon as Stephanie picked me up from the Behler Chelonian Conservation Center, we went to Woodlands Hills to prepare for a Turtle Show which would be held the next day.
The Turtle Show is basically a fund-raiser where turtle lovers put up booths and information sheets and items for sale to raise funds to run the California Turtle and Tortoise Club (CTTC). In case you’re wondering, the CTTC was founded in 1964 and has over 1,800 members world-wide.
The Turtle Show was opened to the public from 11 am to 4 pm, but the church where the show was held was flocked with people arranging their booths and their exhibits, labeling their turtles, putting up donation boxes and what-have yous.
Many turtle keepers brought their own turtles and/or tortoises for display and some CTTC members also brought some turtle items for sale.
I wouldn’t say that response from the public was over-whelming but that was probably due to the record-high temperature (110 deg F / 43 deg C) in Woodland Hills on that day But I was glad to be a part of the “team” and I was glad for the opportunity to meet some turtle enthusiasts and some interesting people at the Turtle Show
More pictures of the CTTC-Valley Turtle Show @ Woodlands Hills here.
But I was glad to be a part of the “team” and I was glad for the opportunity to meet some turtle enthusiasts and some interesting people at the Turtle Show 
