“When the oyster reef was damaged by winter ice, I was discouraged. But Bob (Prescott)said it wasn’t a setback—it just meant we’d have to try new locations. I realized then that we hadn’t failed. We had in fact learned something!”
Oyster reef volunteer Janet Drohan
Welcome to Field Notes—a blog dedicated to the research and conservation work at Wellfleet Bay and the volunteers who help make it possible.
The primary objectives of the blog are to serve as a communications vehicle about what’s going on out in the field and the opportunities that exist to get involved.
Janet Drohan at Oyster Reef
Exactly what is a citizen scientist anyway? Is it just a fancy new term for volunteer? Certainly, citizen scientists are volunteers. But the term is also used to recognize the virtual army of people willing to donate time to support scientific research that most grants or budgets could never afford to finance. Often, special training and a significant commitment of time are involved. The upside—some amazing moments engaging with wildlife: the first plover chick scooting on the beach or the face of a turtle hatchling poking up from the sand. But there are times the work requires being out in really miserable conditions, when even the hardiest citizen scientists may wonder why they ever signed on!
We’d like to include in this introduction to Field Notes the words of some veteran citizen scientists at Wellfleet Bay about why they spend countless hours looking for plover chicks, or checking dozens of terrapin nests, or walking the beach on frigid November nights for hypothermic sea turtles. We hope you’re as excited about the upcoming season as we are!
Diamondback Terrapin Monitors
“On my very first evening of checking terrapin nests, I found two dead hatchlings. Not a good start. So I carefully dug out the rest of the nest and took the remaining eggs to the wet lab. It was amazing to watch them pierce the shell and as each climbed out, their brand new eyes squinting in the light.”
Turtle monitor Karen Strauss