St. Lawrence Islands National Park of Canada

Turtle population in crisis

Study shows alarming trend

Researcher Marie-Andreé Carrière holds a receiver over the water to locate signals from one of the 22 map turtles carrying transmitters in the St. Lawrence River. Each transmitter has a unique frequency so individual turtles can be tracked and located.
© Parks Canada

Turtles are in trouble. Their populations are plummeting and without help from us—residents, visitors, and park staff—some species may disappear from this area.

That’s part of the troubling picture Marie-Andreé Carrière has recently uncovered while working on the St. Lawrence River. Carrière, a Masters student at the University of Ottawa, is working in collaboration with St. Lawrence Islands National Park to study the common map turtle and the stinkpot turtle. Both are species at risk in Canada and little is known about their populations or habits.

Carrière and her team’s dedicated efforts, which included boating, snorkeling, and swimming in all weather to catch turtles, began last summer and will continue this year as the first in-depth study of these shy reptiles.

Carine Verly, a University of Ottawa field assistant, holds up one of 210 map turtles caught and measured last summer. The data collected will help plan a recovery program for this species at risk.
© Parks Canada

The turtles’ mortality rates are the most disturbing results so far. Because turtles are long-lived and slow-growing, even a small increase in mortality rates could send a population over the edge to extirpation.

Last summer, in just one bay, Carrière recorded more than 15 map turtles drowned in less than three weeks in fishing traps set below water. That’s a huge loss to a small population.

“Like humans, turtles have lungs and must breathe air,” Carrière explained. “When they can’t get to the surface, they drown.”  Her work will hopefully lead to local fishermen raising their traps next summer so that a trapped turtle is able to come up to breathe.

A surprising number of turtles also carry physical marks that show the effects humans are having on their populations. Propeller scars cross the shells of many of the turtles, the result of injuries occurring as they swim across busy channels on summer days.

A female map turtle with a transmitter about to be fitted to her shell will soon be ready to be released back into the St. Lawrence River. Transmitters will be attached to the turtles for a two-year study.
© Parks Canada

Propellers are not the biggest threat to our turtle populations though, Carrière warns. “Road kill is the leading cause of decline in all turtle populations. In the spring, when females move onto land to lay their eggs, many are killed crossing the road while looking for a  place to nest. It takes map turtles 10 years to reach sexual maturity, so it’s a huge loss when an adult female is killed on the road. We lose the eggs she was going to lay as well as a reproducing individual in the population.”

Help a turtle cross the road. Protect some wetland. If we don’t help, the turtles are doomed.

What can you do?  Slow down in the spring!  Watch for signs posted near prime turtle nesting habitat, and avoid the turtles on the road. If it’s safe, stop your car and help a turtle to cross.

For more information about the turtle studies at St. Lawrence Islands National Park, contact Marie-Andreé Carrière at mcarr052@uottawa.ca or call 613-923-5261.

Watch for traffic!
© Parks Canada

Help a turtle cross the road

Watch for traffic!  Make sure it is safe for you to pull over and help the turtle.

Move the turtle in the direction it’s going. If you don’t, it will probably turn around and try again.

Don’t lift a turtle by its tail. Turtles are heavy and you could dislocate vertebrae and kill the turtle. Lift turtles by the shell, at the back end (to avoid being bitten).

Be careful with snapping turtles – they have very long necks and sharp beaks!

If using a shovel to move a turtle, keep it very low to the ground in case the turtle moves.