A conservationist says, “I was sure it was Grace, and it broke my heart.
Warning: This story has details and pictures that are upsetting.
One of Ontario’s oldest snapping turtles has been found dead, ending a year of hopeless searching for signs of her survival by conservationists.
Now, the strange place where her body was found is making people wonder how she got there.
Grace was a one-eyed, 125-year-old snapping turtle who was often seen by people in the Municipality of Dysart et al until September 2021. Turtle Guardians, a conservation group, had been keeping an eye on her for years.
Grace was seen often until the wetlands in Haliburton, Ontario, that were thought to be her regular winter hibernation spot were filled in during the winter of 2022, the group says.
Then, in early July, paddler Karol Chorostecki and his partner were floating down Koshlong Lake, about 15 kilometers south of Grace’s usual Haliburton wetlands, when they saw what looked like a laundry basket.
Chorostecki said, “We paddled over, and when we got closer, we saw that it was a turtle shell in the water, but it was kind of upside down.”
Within a two-meter area, he said, other bones and a skull were found and brought to Turtle Guardians.
Leora Berman, the founder and CEO of Turtle Guardians, was sure the remains were Grace’s because of the way she looked.
A Turtle Guardians news release about Grace’s death said, “Her one eye socket was a dead giveaway.””Her unusual suture lines were also an obvious match.”
The news release also said that the skeleton’s size was the same as what was on file for Grace.
Berman told CBC that Grace had died months before because her bones were white and had no flesh on them.
She said, “I was sure it was Grace, and it broke my heart.”
A group thinks that Grace was moved before she died
Turtles tend to stay close to their known homes, so Turtle Guardians thinks that someone moved Grace to the lake when her usual home became dangerous.
“That is the only thing that makes sense,” said Berman. At the Algonquin Wildlife Research Station, snapping turtles have been studied for at least 70 years. In other places, the farthest a snapping turtle has traveled on its own is eight kilometers.
Even though Grace’s hibernation site was filled in, Berman said, “that wouldn’t be a reason for a turtle to change a whole domain.”
Jeff Hathaway, a biologist who started a nature park near Lake Simcoe and works on a large turtle conservation project, agreed that Grace was probably moved by someone.
“Snapping turtles can make big moves, but they can’t do them quickly,” he said.
If turtles were moved, Hathaway said, they might try to go back to where they were more used to being.
“If you’re a turtle trying to get home and a sudden cold snap hits you in the fall, that could kill you,” he said.
But who would move a turtle whose disappearance made the news, but not tell the people who have been keeping track of her?
Hathaway said it could have been someone who didn’t know about Grace’s fame or didn’t want to be known.
He said, “Someone may have found Grace and thought it would be helpful to take her to a bigger lake.”
Berman says that the place where Grace was found would not be a good place to hibernate because the water level would change because of a nearby dam.
Memorial walk planned 
Berman said that she is keeping what’s left of Grace at her house and is asking local Indigenous groups who also knew Grace what to do next.
She said that there will be a memorial walk in September and maybe an art show the following year.
Berman has asked why the fill-in work was allowed when the area was partly zoned for protecting the environment.
The Municipality of Dysart et al. said that its zoning bylaw does not protect against site preparation and change, but that work is being done on a site change bylaw.