Protecting our Endangered Turtles

February 14, 2020

By:  John Woodrooffe and Peter Zajonc

For some years now Professor Patricia Chow-Fraser, Department of Biology at McMaster University has been studying aquatic life in McGregor Bay and greater Georgian Bay.  This past summer she became aware that the endangered Blanding’s turtle has been found in McGregor Bay.  This was a pleasant surprise because there is no record of these federally endangered species in the region.  With this discovery, Dr.Chow-Fraser and the McGregor Bay Association have joined together to submit a proposal to Canada’s Habitat Stewardship Protection (HSP) Funds, to support a scientific study of the endangered Blanding’s turtle in McGregor Bay. 

The proposal contains budget to financially support four Whitefish River First Nation youths to assist with the research project.  The McGregor Bay Association is contributing significant in-kind support for the study including transportation and lodging for her research team.

The objectives of the project are as follows:

  1. To identify nesting and overwintering habitat for Blanding’s turtles living in McGregor Bay, using trapping, tagging, and tracking protocols developed by western science. 
  2. Recruit volunteer cottagers from the MBA and youth from the WRFN community to help trap and tag turtles on provincial land (summer of 2020) and on WRFN territory (summer 2021).
  3. Train cottagers and WRFN community youth to track turtles and to record data for later processing
  4. Co-develop an educational program with MBA cottagers’ community to ensure long-term participation in conservation of the Blanding’s turtle population in McGregor Bay
  5. Using tracking data and field observations in a GIS, identify movement patterns of Blanding’s turtles and determine habitat use that will inform MBA when they are ready to develop a recovery plan for the population.
  6. Given the many islands in McGregor Bay, determine if movement patterns of some of the tagged turtles pre-dispose them to collisions with motorized boats and personal watercraft, and take appropriate actions to mitigate against these risks.

Using the HSP funds, Professor Patricia Chow-Fraser plans to work with the McGregor Bay Association to create an educational and training program so that seasonal and permanent residents in McGregor Bay could be trained to maintain a long-term monitoring program of the turtles and their habitats.  Her research team will provide group workshops and one-on-one training for serious volunteers to track turtles using radio telemetry and to record relevant habitat information.  They propose to create a web-based archive that can be accessed by any stakeholder and used freely for planning and management purposes.  As an educator, Dr. Chow-Fraser knows the importance of engaging and empowering the youth.  To accomplish this the proposal includes funds to create four youth environmental internships to be awarded during the two-year program.  We welcome community involvement in this project.  Members of the McGregor Bay Association who wish to participate in the important work can contact John Woodrooffe, Peter Zajonc or any member of the MBA Executive.