Malaclemys terrapin macrospilota 1

In Search of...

Ornate Diamondback Terrapins.

Tampa Bay to Cedar Key

In 2005 I realized I had never seen a wild Diamondback Terrapin in the twelve years I have been in Florida. I haven't spent a lot of time in coastal areas, but I have spent some and always kept an eye out for turtles. So I set out to find and photograph some for this site. What follows is my search for Ornates.

The search begins.

Doing one of the only two things that Horseshoe Crabs Limulus polyphemus appear to do.

Roseate Spoonbills Ajaja ajaja.

Common Loon Gavia immer, or at least that what the beak looks like. Not sure if this one is in molt, or has a condition.

Pat has crabs!

I didn't see any Diamondbacks this day, but I must have seen 6 types of crab. This is a Mangrove Crab Goniopsis cruentata.

Half a Gopher Tortoise Gopherus polyphemus.

The X-Terrapene and the Callagur (Perception Illusion). These trips gave me an excuse to use this kayak. I only owned it for a year before finally getting it into the water.

Crystal River Power Plant.

Bottlenose Dolphins Tursiops truncatus are often seen hunting in Crystal Bay.

Tropical Puff Neptunia pubescens one of a couple Fabaceae in the state with sensitive leaves. I touched two left leaves just before taking this picture. Already one is starting to close.

The upper one is nearly closed here and the lower one is closing.

Black Needlerush Juncus roemerianus.

The leaves are tapered to a point. After a few days of walking through this, the idea of sitting at home in the AC drinking a beer and looking at pictures of Diamondbacks has some appeal.

Gulf Salt Marsh Snake Nerodia clarkii clarkii.

This female Florida Box Turtle Terrapene carolina baurii was none too shy.

This happy fellow was found in a small salty pond along with a few fish. Florida Snapping Turtle Chelydra serpentina osceola.

It's a boy!

Either he is attempting to frighten us with his brightly colored turtle penis, or Tom is touching him in all the right places.

Bushy Seaside Daisy Borrichia frutescens.

Double Crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus.

After a few days of finding nothing, I headed to Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.

A shy Snake-neck Bird Anhinga anhinga.

Florida Manatee Trichechus manatus latirostrus.

Ah, so this is what they look like. I was beginning to think these were a fictional turtle.

Ornate Diamondback Terrapin Malaclemys terrapin macrospilota.

Now if I could only get some pictures of them in the wild.

Not a mirror effect, this is Gigi the two headed Florida Redbelly Pseudemys nelsoni at Homosassa Springs Park.

Back to the wild!

The normal one-headed variety of Florida Redbelly. This old male had incredible color. He also had an old healed carapace wound. Possibly from a boat propeller.

Redbellies do not always have red plastrons, but they do have a notched upper jaw.

Here we have a female Peninsula Cooter Pseudemys floridana peninsularis and you can see it lacks the notch that the redbellies have. This girl was pulled off the road just a few miles away from where I moved the male redbelly above.

Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus feeding.

Float marker for crab traps.

I see many abandoned crab traps washed up along the shores of the islands in the bay. They are a menace to wildlife and boaters alike. Not to mention being an eyesore.

Related link http://www.gsmfc.org/derelicttraps.htm

At last! The Ornate Diamondback Terrapin Malaclemys terrapin macrospilota. If you have a degree of imagination you can see the light centers of some scutes under the water.

There are more convincing photos of the Loch Ness Monster, which gave me the title idea for this page. I hope to get better shots as time goes on.

Male (you can see the long tail trailing behind and the long nails on the forelimbs) Peninsula Cooter.

The Alligators Alligator mississippiensis I saw in Chassahowitzka Bay had reddened eyes.

Perhaps due to irritation from the brackish water.

It was getting dark and I closed my eyes for a few minutes, only to find the above Alligator easing up to the kayak when I opened my eyes. Probably time to call it a day.

The search continues on page 2