No, overwintering turtles don't breathe through their butts: Getting to the bottom of a popular misconception

On a crisp February day, a filmmaker and I were walking across the 45-centimeter-thick ice covering Opinicon Lake, a small lake in eastern Ontario. We were heading for a very special spot where hundreds of northern map turtles coalesce every year to spend the winter months. The filmmaker stuck a camera attached to a long pole in holes drilled through the ice to capture turtles for a nature documentary.