Into the Wild
Krissy Hopkins, part of the Chesapeake Bay Program's Fostering Stewardship team, writes about releasing the Bay Program's three terrapins into the wild. Bay Program staff have cared for the three terrapins -- Secchi, Runoff and Skipjack -- for almost a year as part of the Terrapin Institute.
Waves lapped against the shore, an osprey flew overhead,
warm sand squished between my toes, and all I thought was, “This is home.”
The sights, the sounds, the smells -- they made me wonder what it was like for
our terrapins to experience these things for the first time.
At Kent
Narrows, the place their
mother laid their eggs, we released our brood back into the wild. Our
tender loving care allowed our three terrapins to grow five times larger than
terps of a comparable age in the wild. They truly have a head start on
life thanks to the Terrapin Institute’s
program
The top photo shows the average size of a terrapin one year after hatching; below, Krissy holds two of the Bay Program's terrapins, which are about five times larger at the same age.
Secchi was the first to be released. I set him down in the
soft white sand and he took off instinctively towards the breaking waves.
Without hesitation he swam through the cove and out into open water.
After swimming about 10 yards he popped his little head out of the water and
looked back at us standing on the shore. It was almost as if he was
saying goodbye.
Krissy releases Secchi onto the beach.
Skipjack was the next to go. Liana set this little
lady down a few feet from the water. Skipjack swaggered her way into the
waves. She swam in the cove for a few minutes before making her way
through the breaking waves and into open water.
Liana, another Bay Program staffer, watches Skipjack as she makes her way into the Bay.
Finally it was Runoff’s turn. I sent her down in the
sand, and she just sat there looking up at me. After some encouragement
and a nudge in the right direction her feet finally hit the waters of the Chesapeake and she beelined
it out of the cove.
Runoff heads toward her new home in the Bay.
We all stood on the beach, watching our little babies all
grown up and out on their own. We scanned the water for their little
heads popping out here and there looking back at us. It was goodbye for
the last time.
Being a part of this program and raising our brood will have
a positive impact on this beautiful species and the Chesapeake
Bay. These terrapins made me recognize all the connections
between the land, the water, the people and the critters that call the bay
their home.
I left that morning feeling I was a part of something much
greater than myself; I had made a true Chesapeake
connection.
Cleaning Up the Magothy, One Stream at a Time
Jim Edward is the
deputy director of the Chesapeake Bay Program
Office.
It was a Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., and already it was in
the mid-70s and humid. After getting lost, I arrived at the Magothy River Day
and Watershed Clean Up, an event organized by the Magothy River Association
(MRA) to celebrate John Smith’s discovery of the Magothy River
on June 12th more than 400 years ago.
Once I arrived -- 15 minutes late -- the 25+ volunteers that
had gathered at Chelsea Beach in Pasadena,
Maryland, were already working
hard and craving the water cooler and ice that I was in charge of bringing. The
enthusiastic, hard-working (and sweaty!) volunteers, who ranged in age from 7
to 70, were helping to clean up Indian River Creek, which was riddled with hundreds of tires and
other debris from more than 25 years of neglect. The creek was
at the bottom of a steep ravine, and rolling huge truck tires up the hill was a
muddy and sweaty challenge for many of us (including me!!!!). But over the next
couple of hours we managed to nearly fill two 20-foot-long dumpsters with old
tires, rims, rusty lawnmowers, water heaters (???) and other “junk.”
Jim (right) and other volunteers clear some strange items of trash from the area, including a water heater and an old lawn mower.
The trash was located at the bottom of a steep ravine, so the voluteers had to push the tires uphill -- exhausting work!
MRA President Paul Sparado was there and working as hard as
anyone. But the real organizers for the
day were Juliet Page and Tom Hampton of the MRA Stormwater Committee, of which
I am a member. Along with other members of the committee, they worked with Anne Arundel
County to identify sites along the Magothy River in need of clean-up and restoration.
These before and after photos show what a difference this small band of people
made that morning and the value of citizens and government working together to
achieve a common goal.
Before: A pile of tires sat at the bottom of a steep ravine near Indian River Creek, which drains to the Magothy River.
After: The creek bed is clear of tires and other trash.
I just recently joined the Chesapeake Bay Program Office as
its deputy director after more 20 years of working for the EPA in Washington, D.C.
Not only has my carbon footprint become smaller, but my professional and personal
worlds have become one. I have done volunteer work for many years with MRA, the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Earth Conservation Corps, and now Bay-related
work is my everyday job, too. But I am only
one of the nearly 17 million people who live in the Bay watershed. It will take
efforts from each and every one of us to restore the Bay we all know and love.
President Obama and his family of five (remember, his
mother-in-law lives with him!) are among the newest residents of the Bay watershed,
and it did not take him long to embrace his new home and recognize the Bay as a
national treasure by issuing an Executive Order. It charges the EPA to lead a renewed
federal effort to restore the Bay by working with its state and local partners
and others throughout the watershed. But it is important to remember that the
government can’t do it all. The MRA cleanup and its volunteers are a prime
example of that. So lets each do our part…one by one….it’s a new day for the
Bay!