CoastalPlains

This is Ryan Means, Striped Newt Repatriation Project Leader. I'll keep you informed about this groundbreaking salamander conservation effort in north Florida.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

2019 striped newts are faring well in the wild thus far 6 weeks post-release. We recaptured 9 newts apiece at two repatriation wetlands yesterday afternoon.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

We went dipnetting yesterday with newt project colleague Pierson Hill to find out how released newts were faring at 2 study ponds. At first, It seemed he had forgotten how to dipnet. Then he figured it out! (Now, he's one of the best dipnetters ever)😊

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

We'll be at @GrassLandsBrew this Saturday. Come out and meet Surfer, the most famous striped newt in the world!

[GrassLands Brewing Co @GrassLandsBrew]

This Sat., beginning at 1pm, join us in our Beer Garden for our Community Pint Spotlight w/ The Coastal Plains Institute! In addition to their work to protect the biodiversity in the SE U.S., CPI also offers a bevy of educational opportunities in the field AND in the classroom.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

I'd like to introduce: Surfer, the striped newt! She is the face of the striped newt project. Surfer is 2.5 years old now, sourced from the only known Georgia population, and born at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Same newt just released moments later in nearby longleaf pine uplands.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

A "newtiful" little fella.....A yellow VIE implant is visible just posterior of the front arm.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Oh, boy, I love to look down in a pitfall trap and see this! Striped newt eft # 2 for the season is caught in the drift fence this morning. It's right where we want them to be--on top of the floating sponge island.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Upon turning over the little fella, we see that this one is marked with two yellow visible elastomer implants in quadrants 1 and 2 (near both armpits). We record the mark as: Y1 Y2

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Oh My Gosh...It is!!! We just caught our first terrestrial eft in a drift fence for 2018!!! This newt is exiting the pond just 2-3 days post-release. What a cutie!

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Look what I saw when I looked down into a drift fence pitfall trap! Could it be....a striped newt eft???

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

The newt release party was a three-day event. We invited many area citizens, colleagues, and agencies to attend....

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

This beauty has just gone under anesthesia. We've never lost a newt in the marking process

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Before release, newts are carefully marked under anesthesia with visual implant elastomer (VIE) colored tags.

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

And we wish to give thanks to our numerous project partners including: US Forest Service, Tall Timbers Research Station, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, State of Georgia

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

All newts arrived safe and sound after transport. This year's crop was supplied by Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, Detroit Zoological Society, and Amphibian Foundation. Thank you, colleagues, for your expert newt raising!!!

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

After months of dryness and unsuitable release conditions, rains kicked in, and we finally accomplished a big release of 260 striped newts into 4 recipient ponds in the Apalahicola National Forest....Here's a newt just released into a pond!

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Gopher frog and gopher frog egg mass

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Last night's rain brought out some ephemeral pond obligates to our newt repatriation ponds

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Look who showed up in one of our repatriation ponds....a gopher frog! Always a nice bonus having these

[CoastalPlains @StripedNewts]

Striped newt project kicks off with a bang for 2018! We just captured the first returning adult of 2018. He is fully aquatic and ready to breed! VIE mark was inconclusive, but we believe he was first released anywhere from 1 to 3 years ago as a larva.