An unseasonably cool spring and extreme summer weather has added to the long list of issues surrounding Spiny Softshell Turtles and it has local researchers on high alert.
"The abnormally cool weather in April and May resulted in a two week delay in nesting, which was our latest season on record. Then the summer’s extreme heat and storms made recovery efforts challenging," said Scott Gillingwater, Species at Risk Biologist at the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in a release.
The Spiny Softshell Turtle is endangered both provincially and federally with only small number of hatchling turtles reach adulthood.
Every year the UTRCA releases thousands of hatchlings into local waterways in the hopes of boosting the local population. The weather this year made that process extremely difficult.
"Climate change will continue to make our work more difficult, with high heat, storm events, and flooding causing turtle eggs to fail,” said Gillingwater.
Despite the challenges Gillingwater says that their efforts are working.
The UTRCA says anyone wishing to donate to their efforts can do so at the Spiny Softshell Recovery Project at
