MATES Shared Time Students

Of the twelve Juniors who spent two days at Sedge just prior to the end of school, only one had previously visited the island and he had come many years ago as a 6th grader from Stafford Elementary School. As a result, our usual short kayak paddle past the osprey nests and peregrine falcon was a new experience for almost everyone. We stopped at the “Bahamas” to dig for clams. With a fairly low tide and exceptionally warm water (85F) we were comfortable digging by hand more than two feet deep to find several hard clams and many Stouts Taglus clams.

The following day the group paddled to Spizzle Creek to help MATES administrator, John Wnek, stage Mega-terrapin Day. This was John’s first attempt to simultaneously collect a large number of Diamond Backed Terrapins. We began by stretching a 300 ft. Tremal net across the eastern end of a cove just south of the bird blind. Twelve students, staff and visitors slowly inched the net forward attempting to corral the terrapins at the end of the cove. The knee deep soft mud that sucked off almost any footgear made this effort extremely difficult. This sweep of the net resulted in the capture of one small male. In a second attempt we strung the net across the entrance to the cove and drove the terrapins toward the net as we splashed with our kayak paddles. Although we saw many terrapins we were only able to capture a few.

Although we did not catch many terrapins, the group had a variety of other good experiences. Many students enjoyed snorkeling in the clear water in the thorofare near the Sedge House. Several people got up to watch a spectacular sunrise and one of the girls caught an eighteen-inch blue- her first fish ever. Students and MATES teacher Kelly McMillan caught dozens of comb jelly fish and placed them in a small fish tank. Later that evening we were delighted to see the bioluminescence when these ctenophores were stirred up in the tank.