Biology professor conducts study on Westhampton Lake turtles

Peter Smallwood, a biology professor, conducted a study of turtles along with other faculty and multiple classes on Thursday, Sept. 5, to determine whether the number of female turtles in the lake has been declining.

Colleagues of Smallwood's at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania noticed that the number of adult female turtles was too few in the ponds near their college, Smallwood said.

Without adult females, the population of aquatic turtles would be in danger of crashing, although it could a while for the population to crash since turtles can live for decades, Smallwood said.

"At least for our lake, I don't think we're seeing the lack of females," Smallwood said. Despite not seeing the lack of females in the Westhampton Lake, Smallwood and other scientists will still need to do many more studies like this one before any claims can be made.

Casey Schmidt, a junior and ecology student, was one of the students taking measurements of the turtles that were pulled out of the lake. "We are responsible for taking measurements of the top shell, bottom shell, length and width of both, the length of the bottom two scoots, and the bottom claw," she said.

While taking the measurements of the turtles, the students mark the turtles in order to identify which turtles have already been captured, Smallwood said. The students will then be able to release the turtles, reset the traps and bring in a new batch, Smallwood said. They then look at the ratio of marked and unmarked turtles to estimate the population size, Smallwood said.

Hunterr Payeur worked over the summer as a research assistant to Smallwood and spent most of the summer camping and measuring turtles.

"I caught turtles on the Westhampton Lake," he said, "[and] I went to Charles City at the VCU Rice Center and caught turtles. I also went to Fountain Lake and Swan Lake, which are in Maymont Park. By doing that we are hoping to collect enough data to send out to a previous study in Pennsylvania that is ongoing."

Watching Payeur and Smallwood at work was similar to watching an episode of the Crocodile Hunter as they pulled a large snapping turtle out of a trap. After a struggle to measure the turtle, Smallwood said, "If I could not have the snappers at all, I'd be happy not to have them."

While Payeur wrestled another turtle free from a trap, Smallwood said: "Hunterr's technique--he ends up bleeding. I don't bleed." Payeur had suffered small cuts on his hands in his handling of the turtles, but it was clear that Smallwood was joking.

Contact Collegian Reporter at brennan.lutz@richmond.edu