The Bay County Box Turtle Project is a citizen science initiative aimed at the conservation of box turtles and their habitats in neighborhoods of Bay County, Florida. This page is meant to provide information about the project and to enlist the help of our neighbors in collecting scientific data on resident Gulf Coast Box Turtles. You can find additional information, and follow posts about the project here on our page. Box turtles, like all residents in Bay County, are adapting to the dramatic changes caused by Hurricane Michael. Box turtles seek shelter in the shaded, brushy cover of wood piles, thick vegetation, and shrubbery- habitat features that have been affected by the storm and its aftermath. We believe that a thriving box turtle population indicates that ample green spaces exist throughout a neighborhood to provide food and shelter, and pathways for turtles and other wildlife. As we clean-up, rebuild, and replant our neighborhoods, we intend to monitor the status of box turtles as a biological indicator of the recovery of the natural elements that make Bay County neighborhoods a unique and special place for all. Our Geographic Focus- We are currently tagging turtles and requesting your sighting reports in: The Cove (Panama City), College Point (Lynn Haven), and Lower Grand Lagoon (Panama City Beach). Turtles are measured, photographed, and tagged by a small group of professional biologists, and then released at the point of capture. These activities are being conducted under a scientific collecting permit issued by the state of Florida, permit -19-00012B. Each turtle is given a small vinyl tag with a unique 4-digit code (e.g., M233) and is given a name for future identification. Tags will be located in the rear portion of the carapace (top shell), and are about the size of a tic-tac. TO REPORT A TURTLE SIGHTING- If you encounter a turtle and have the time, we encourage you to check for a tag (without handling the turtle), obtain a close-up photo of the top of the shell (i.e., carapace) and to report the sighting using our online survey form accessed here. Your reports are important to the study, whether the turtle is tagged or not. We also request sighting reports of turtle mortalities (e.g., turtles killed on the road or elswehere)- an unfortunate but occasional occurrence. https://forms.gle/QJBRTsVebFAVvL9d6
Alternatively, sighting reports can be submitted to the Bay County Box Turtle Project hotline as a text message, for Cove sightings text to (850) 290-3969, for College Point sightings text to (850) 296-2551 If reporting via text to the hotline please provide the following information: YOUR NAME (optional), DATE, TIME, NEAREST ADDRESS, TAG ID (if present), PHOTO of TAG, and at least 1 good close up PHOTO of TOP OF SHELL. Sighting reports submitted by the public will be entered into our database on a regular basis; once entered your report will be viewable in the “Turtle Mapper”. TO VIEW COLLECTED TURTLE DATA via the “TURTLE MAPPER”- This online mapper allows the public to examine some of the turtle data collected on an interactive map. Individual records can be accessed, and filters can be applied to display records for a turtle by its name or tag number-
https://fws.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=cd12162a2bbc4fb7b912c063ed70ff76
INSTRUCTIONS for using the “TURTLE MAPPER”- This document explains some of the features of the Turtle Mapper, like how to filter by turtle tag number, name, or person who found the turtle. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1zvHzmuDFYP7EggNauSOvhDXPLVtN1lrD
TAGGED TURTLE ID LIST - To see a list of all the turtles tagged and named, their neighborhood, and tagging date, click here-
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_LgScA2rwUlcRwYDdHRUZlTz0fZ33meD/view?usp=sharing
WHEN and BY WHOM are the BOX TURTLES TAGGED? When a member of the tagging team encounters a turtle, the animal is measured, photographed, and tagged. This information and other details associated with the sighting are recorded and entered into a database. Tagging activities are only permitted for members of the tagging team, however, anyone that encounters a turtle can inspect it and submit a sighting report, whether it is tagged or not. If you do encounter an untagged turtle, please do not detain it. Chances are good that it will be encountered by a team member in the future and tagged. Your records, particularly the photo of the shell that you submit, will be analyzed using image matching software to assimilate all records of the individual that have been submitted. Questions or Comments about the Project? Please email them to us at-
[email protected]
