Back-to-pool for coddled baby turtles

After more than two monthsaway inside incubators, nearly sixhundredtiny turtles are headingback to the waters of Ottawa's Mud Lake.

The eggs of snapping turtles andBlanding's turtles, each considered species at risk in Ontario,were collected in Junefrom western Ottawa, Lanark and Leeds and Grenville counties by the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) tohelpprotect them from predators and vehicles.

The eggsspent their summer vacation in an incubator at a constant warm temperature of28 C.

According to David Seburn, a freshwater turtle specialist for the CWF, most turtles have temperature-dependent sex determination, which means thetemperature of the egg helps determinewhether it's a male or female.

A hotter temperature produces more females, a lower temperatures more males.

Incubated turtles released into the wild at Mud Lake

5 years ago

Duration 1:16

Watch David Seburn, a freshwater turtle specialist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, explain why hundreds of tiny turtles are being released at the Britannia Conservation Area.

This batch of eggs produced roughly half males and half females, and all but two or three eggs hatched.

"We are trying to aim for a fifty-fifty sex ratio in the population just like in nature." he said.

The eggs collected in June were laid very close to water, so he feels it'slikely the hatchlings would have made it, but they could have also gone to nearby roads and been run over.

Over the past two years the CWF's team has discoveredthe remains of more than 1,000 turtles killed on local roads, according to Seburn, many of them adult females.

"By releasing [the babies]at the water's edge, they've gotten over two of the biggest speed bumps in their life," he said.

Challenges ahead

However, getting to the waterdoesn't mean their survival is guaranteed.

"There is no mom to teach them how to hunt or where to go. They are completely on their own, which is pretty remarkable,"said Seburn.

Sebrun says typically when they hit the water, they swim for a little bit and then stopandlook around as if they are checking out their new digs.

They are also likely hungry and will begin looking for food.

They aren't fed in captivity because they don't eat as much as mammals and scientists don't want them to eat non-wild food.

In the end, Seburn expects maybetwenty per cent of the turtles will survive to adulthood.

"Mortality probably is pretty high, especially the first few weeks. Nature is not very forgiving." he said.

Many will become prey for large fish.

However, hehopes a largenumber of the turtles get throughthe fall and theirfirst winter, becausetheir survival should onlyincrease with time.

"When they are three or four years old, they are big enough that very few predators will tackle them and at that point there will be really really high survivorship going forward."