Road Patrol Schedule
This page is dedicated to communicating with volunteers with the Great Bay Terrapin Conservation Project.
Thank you so much for volunteering this year to help reduce road kills of terrapins in the Barnegat and Great Bay Watersheds! If you have problems with the shared Google Calendar then please let me know and I can try to help you out with it. Here is a good guide on how to use Google Calendar.
You will need to setup a Google account to edit and make changes to the calendar. Please add an event to the calendar on the date and time you plan to volunteer. Please input your name and the roads you plan to survey. There will be a sign out sheet in the lock box (code to get in box is 713) at JCNERR (our HQ) where you can write down the total number of hours that you volunteered and the number of terrapins observed. Recording your total volunteer hours is important for us to know how much time you've spent to help us survey terrapins.
If you do not wish to setup a Google acct. then email me and let me know when you can volunteer. If you have any questions or problems, let me know. My personal cell is 609-713-4464 or you can email me.
** Note - this page is set to only be visible via the direct link. Please bookmark this page and do not share this with anyone. **
Inside the Lock box at JCNERR is everything you should need. Please make sure to wear an orange safety vest when conducting patrols. All datasheets, a GPS and clipboard are in the lock box as well. Please make sure to drop them back off after you are done with your patrol. This is important since the equipment is shared among other volunteers.
Please don't forget that terrapins are more active around high tide (less distance to travel over land to find nest sites). Here is where you can check local tide levels.
Google Calendar:
Map of Roads that we Patrol (GBB is most important):
How to add an observation using the iNaturalist app:
Here is a video I made to show how you can make an observation using iNaturalist and then share with the Great Bay Terrapin Project.
Turtle lesions:
Keep an eye out for lessions on any terrapin that you encounter. Please take a photo and send it to me with information about your sighting. More info/web version.
Resources:
 | Terrapin Sighting Form 2018 - Great Bay Terrapin Project - 486.2KB |
| Terrapin morphological datasheet - 1.2MB |
| Great Bay Terrapin Project - Volunteer Steward Info 2018 - 391.6KB |
How to determine Notch identification code: Read from head in clockwise direction. Most terrapins should have a 6 alpha code.
2021 Updates:
#1 - First wild nesting that was observed on May 27 in Great Bay and Cape May County. We are beginning surveys after Memorial Day on June 1.
2020 Updates:
#4 - June 23
Last week we saw the biggest spike in nesting activity of the year, with hundreds crossing and nesting on Thursday, June 18.You couldn’t drive more than 50 feet without having to stop to just let them cross on their own. It was so great seeing so many people out there allow them to cross as well!! No surprise with the spring tide (new moon). We decided to start collecting terrapins that afternoon to be held for disease screening the next day with NJ Fish & Wildlife. We collected 34 that were held overnight at the Tuckerton Seaport in less than an hour. On Friday (another busy nesting day) we processed all 34 of them. We collected blood, stool samples and swabs of their mouths for possible diseases. This is an effort to try and determine a protocol for releasing captive terrapins who might have pathogens that could be spread to wild terrapins. Besides collecting samples, we also measured and marked all 34. They were all released in the general area where they were found by 4pm that day. This week nesting has died down a little each day as we move past the new moon phase. There were several road kills yesterday on GBB and several new nests found at our turtle garden (we’re up to ~ 35 exclosed nests so far). I have to make more cages to go over the others. Luckily we have yet to see much predation there, even of nests that are not protected, which is good! Nesting will continue but not as hot and heavy as it was late last week. Jamie-Lynn, one of our student interns, was out today and heard from a couple of Conservation Officers that some people were just caught poaching terrapins from GBB (again!!)!!! A good reminder to always be looking for suspicious behavior out there… Lastly, and most importantly, I was informed by the Assistant Director at the JCNERR building where we keep our equipment, that a covid-19 positive student is being quarantined there in the dorms, which are adjacent to the porch area. Please make sure to sanitize your hands before and after you grab gear from inside the lock box and touching the screen door handle. I imagine this person is staying inside for the most part and not going through the porch, but you never know, so please be mindful of keeping your hands clean and wearing a face mask when near other people. I will be changing the alert sign to MODERATE tomorrow. #3 - June 12 Well, today was the busiest day of the season! It’s no surprise to me and I was expecting it to continue to build through this week. The rain yesterday afternoon is likely what caused females to come up in large numbers (soft, moist soil to dig in). With that said, I hope you all can use our shared Google Calendar to chose a time and date to get out and watch this magical event take place (and also help ensure those gravid females make it safely across the road). I saw that some of you have been out (by signing out gear and using data sheets in our lock box at JCNERR) but were not listed on Google Calendar. Please, I need you to use Google Calendar so that others can plan when they can help. It also lets me know when you’re out there in case you need me… Also, if you are using our shared equipment and data sheets to survey GBB, you need to use the shared GPS and mark waypoints for when you observe a terrapin on the road. I saw some have been writing down GPS coordinates instead of waypoint #’s. This makes data entry much more difficult and time consuming (I know b/c I do much of it in the off season). It really helps save me LOTS of time if you use the Garmin GPS and then write down the waypoint # after you mark a waypoint. Here is a short video showing how to mark a waypoint: https://youtu.be/tOHkzgqGCiI Before the first bridge I installed this new warning sign, which I hope raises some more awareness for terrapins. The alert text can be changed depending on the amount of terrapins that we see on the road. For this weekend I’m leaving it at HIGH. I have another one of these that I hope to install down the road at the enhancement site, but wanted to install one for more people to see, since most people do not travel that far down the road. Lastly, If you are going out and pass by the enhancement site, PLEASE do not walk all over it looking for nests. I found three nests in there today, but there were MANY false nests or test holes dug by females. They are hard to find unless you know what you are looking for. If anyone wants to monitor the site for nesting and then exclose nests with a predator exclosure, then please let me know. That is where you sit there and watch for females to nest and then install an exclosure over the nest. Please let me know if this is something that you want to help with instead of monitoring the road (which you can also do while monitoring for nesting, but you will be at one location). I will be out there for a little while tomorrow morning as I have to place some salvaged eggs from a roadkilled female from Stafford Twp in our turtle garden (enhancement site). Please feel free to reach out anytime to me or any of my volunteer student interns (all cc’d) if you have questions. Thanks, Ben PS - I will send info early next week about us helping to collect as many terrapins as we can for blood samples and pathology tests in partnership with MATES/Project Terrapin & NJ Fish & Wildlife. We will need all hands on deck to collect terrapins for us to process at JCNERR and then return to where they were found on GBB. We are shooting for late next week, when we have a new moon.
#2 - June 2
We had a second, follow up Zoom meeting on 4/29, for me to answer any questions or concerns. On June 1, our interns, Jamie, Joe, Dylan and Marissa met with me on GBB where we: relocated the coir logs from our habitat enhancement project, made predator exclosures, planted natives at enhancement site, and repaired barrier fencing.
We had our first terrapin who was hit by car yesterday on GBB. It was a juvenile male and he was recoverd by some pedestrians. He was clipped on the back of his carapace and looked repairable. He was brought to the Leeds Point Terrapin Project, who brought him back to GBB and met with me there. I took him and brought him to Barnegat Animal Clinic for care and released him yesterday evening.
The first terrapin who was hit on GBB this year was released on the same day.
We hope to begin patrols as soon as Wednesday, when temps reach the mid-80s, if anyone wants to head out. I will email everyone later today to coordinate and see who is available.
#1 - May 29
We had our first virtual meeting on May 22 (video above).
2019 Updates (sent via email and copied here):
02:June 13
Nesting season is well underway! I just wanted send a quick update to everyone. I have noticed that there has been little use of Google Calendar so far this season. If you are going out on a patrol, then you should list when and where you are. This is just so I know who is out and where. This is most important for GBB and especially if you are using our shared equipment, but encouraged for all other roads - even if you are using iNaturalist. Speaking of iNaturalist, I wrote a blog post to share news about the project and tips for the public who are interested in helping to collect data for us. http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/blog/2019/06/12/public-participation-key-to-protect-terrapins-on-roads/. I’m curious to see if many people contribute to the project this year. In other news, we ARE marking an X in orange paint on the road for road killed terrapins. This is done with orange marking paint and is how we ensure that road killed terrapins are not counted more than once. The two that I got last week were marked with an X. There will be paint in the lock box for you to use for these purposes. Please don’t use it to write anything other than an X on the road where a terrapin was hit on the road!! If you haven’t filled out and returned your WCC Application then you’ll need to do that before doing any patrols. If you have completed it and have any questions prior to doing a patrol, then please don’t hesitate to give me a call or shoot me a text: 609-713-4464. This weekend and next week are going to be very busy, as we have a FULL MOON on Monday. This will bring more females up to nest and into the roadway. Update 01a: June 5
Nesting season is underway! With the new moon (June 3) and warm weather nesting has begun! We're at the point where you can't drive down GBB without seeing a terrapin (even at low tide). If you go out, please use Google Calendar to let everyone know that you're out!
If you take photos that you'd like to share, then you can upload them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByhIba5Gxt6GLUROd1VMYTdyZkE?usp=sharing
01: May 30
First female encountered on GBB on 5/29/19.
Yesterday Emily, Gabi and I repaired the barrier fence along the first section of road after I mowed and line trimmed it the day before. There are sections that could not be repaired, so you might encounter a terrapin in this section of road, especially where the tubing is (after the fence). It has been run over and mashed down flat on the ground, so terrapins can simply walk right over it. The fence/tubing has become quite a bear to maintain. Mainly because it is constantly vandalized, and because of that, I am considering removing it and just doing patrols in this area after this year... You’ll see more signs in this area to let people know that they should be aware of terrapins crossing here. Thanks so much to Gabi & Emily for their help to get the fence in a somewhat functional position for this year! I have heard a few reports of females coming up. Dr. Wnek mentioned that one had nested on the south end of LBI. One was sighted in a yard on West Creek Dock Rd., S. Green St. and I saw my first yesterday on GBB (photo below - as you cam see she is NOT notched but has a unique scute pattern). I’d say that we can start patrols this weekend. If you’re all setup to start volunteering (WCC application completed and submitted to NJDEP) then you should enter when you can patrol on our Google Calendar, viewable here: http://conservewildlifenj.org/roadpatrols(there is a help guide on this page for using Google Calendar). This is crucial, so that we don’t have volunteers out at the same time (unless you are using iNaturalist and patrolling other roads on your own). If you need help then please let me know. Gabi & Emily will start their surveys and notching next week (new moon on June 3). As an FYI - Next Thursday at 12pm, we will be releasing head-started terrapins (a MATES/Project Terrapin partnership) with Bass River Elementary students and teachers. Pauline will be helping with this by doing an activity with the kids while we get the kids to help measure a few adults that we capture right before the event.
2018 Updates:
04: June 11
Please remember that you must use Google Calendar to show when you are planning to patrol the road! Also – very important – make sure you choose “2018 Terrapin Patrols” as the calendar that you are adding an event to!! Some of you have added events to the calendar which are clearly for personal event reminders.
Link to this page removed
Tomorrow at 12pm I will be joined by students from Bass River Elementary to release 5 terrapins that they raised over the winter. They will also help to measure and mark some adults that we capture before their arrival tomorrow. New moon is this week, so with some warmer weather, nesting should be at its peak this week.
03: June 8
All,
It has been brought to my attention that some people have been giving motorists on GBB the middle finger and/or yelling profanities, and they said it was some of my interns/volunteers. However, I can't imagine that any of you would stoop to that level, and sincerely hope that if you see someone acting that way that you let me know about it! I also told them that all of my volunteers/interns wear a bright yellow or orange safety vest while conducting official patrols/surveys for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ.
I like to think that we're better than that and can reach common ground with anyone driving on GBB (or other roads in coastal areas). They're here to enjoy the same natural resources, whether passively or aggressively. I also think that by being nice and talking to people about why terrapins are such an amazing species worth protecting, then we'll have more people on our side! In my opinion, this is how we've been so successful in cutting the road mortality rate in half over the past 5 years.
Please do not hesitate to let me know of any of anyone who you see out there who is acting like this.
FYI - I'm traveling today through Sunday, but will still be reachable by cell, but if you need help in the area, please reach out to Marissa or Megan.
02.1: June 1
First nest (containing 10 eggs) was found in the area that we enhanced last Friday on Cedar Run Dock Rd!
02 - May 30
Last Friday we met with Dr. John Wnek and processed the first live trapped terrapins (both adult/juvenile male/females) from Cedar Run Dock Rd. Of the four that were captured, two were adult females. Both did not have fully developed eggs, so the nesting season has still yet to start.
I have received some reports of nesting to the south (along D. Bayshore), so it is coming… The first big wave is not likely until the next moon phase (new moon on 6/13). Nesting should pick up slowly from now until then, when it’ll get to be pretty crazy.
For now, we’ll rely on local reports from some of you who live in the LEHT area to observe for nesting. All survey equipment is in the lock box at JCNERR, so you all should be set. For anyone who wants to join us for a patrol, then we can arrange for you to join Megan, Marissa, or I.
In other news, we just installed a 10 ton turtle garden at a home on Cedar Run Dock Rd! It’s an oasis for terrapins, which now got a serious boost in enhancing this declining habitat.
01 -May 18
Thanks to everyone who came out earlier this week. Things are going to get really busy in no time at all!
I just want to go over some key topics that I discussed:
We expect nesting to begin next weekend when a full moon occurs (on May 29). Terrapins are cold blooded, so the weather and water temperature affect their activity, especially in spring. So, it’s too early to speculate on how big of nesting wave we get right now since it’s been cool and wet. We rely on our locals to do some early scouting of roads for any adult females…
Not much has changed this year. Again we have two volunteer student research interns, Megan and Marissa who’ve joined the team this year. They will be measuring and marking adult females who enter the roadway. This year we will be deploying 100 PIT tags courtesy of Dr. John Wnek of MATES! Always be aware of notched individuals that you encounter in the area. Please make sure to read the notch code starting at the head (from A) clockwise (to X)!! If you can’t read it, then take a photo so we can ID it later. You can upload photos here (this will also be on the Road Patrol webpage): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IDyOZpPFabyWdMuo_GAuNMa-2pn6ljp1?usp=sharing
I didn’t mention the other day, but some, if not all of you know that we also patrol other roads, including West Creek Dock Rd., Parkertown Dock Rd., S. Green St., Radio Rd. (on Osbourne Island), Route 9 (in Bass River & Port Republic – by Nacote Creek), and Route 30. Our main project area is Great Bay Blvd though and where we get around 750 terrapins who are encountered there annually.
Use the shared Google Calendar to create an event to say when you are out patrolling a road. This is so I know who is volunteering and where (please list your name and the road you are patrolling). This year I am willing to allow overlapping patrols on GBB since it is a long road and I know it is hard for one person to cover. I will leave an extra GPS in the lockbox at JCNERR. If and when you do this, just be sure that if and when you overlap with another volunteer, that you don’t mark points for the same terrapin on the road. Just keep that in mind while out…
We are continuing to mark the road in orange paint with a X for any road killed terrapins. If you find one that is dead, please take a photo, mark a point, record on datasheet, MOVE TERRAPIN OFF THE ROAD (gloves are in the lockbox), and then mark the road with an X. When we kept roadkills on the road last year, I think some were counted more than once…
If you’d like to use iNaturalist to record your sightings (and photos of your sightings), then you are welcome and highly encouraged to do so. You can download iNaturalist on any smartphone for free. Search “nearby projects” and join Great Bay Terrapin Project. When you make an observation, for it to be included in this project, then you will need to add it to the GBTP at the bottom of your observation. Using iNaturalist will eliminate you using a paper datasheet and GPS, but I would still encourage you to stop at JCNERR (when starting a shift on GBB) to sign in, grab spray paint, car magnets, safety vest, etc… If you don’t want to have to stop there, then I guess you could get your own safety vest and paint and avoid it, but then I won’t be able to track your time spent on the road unless you fill out a timesheet at the end of the season. I’m all for this as long as you keep track of your hours so we can use it for match (or to make great graphics like attached) to show how much time and effort our great volunteer put into this project!!! Link to project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-bay-terrapin-project
I also mentioned to ALWAYS keep an eye out for suspicious behavior. Last year a couple hundred terrapin hatchlings were poached from GBB area. I’ve updated the datasheets with an emergency wildlife contact #, which is 1-877-WARN-DEP.
Many of you were happy to hear that I’m working with NJ Fish and Wildlife and NJDEP to guide mitigation $$ towards enhancing terrapin habitat at the old Rand’s Boats on GBB. We hope to enhance around .5 acre there and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on that. We’re currently working on getting permits.
I will continue to survey Route 30, since it is a very deadly and unsafe road.
If you are a WCC volunteer and would like an ID badge (I think you all should get one to work on this project), then please let me know. I’m going to ask where you should send your photo. Here are the instructions on the application: “Please email a passport size digital photo of yourself (from the shoulders up) so a WCC Identification badge can be made for you (Please indicate that your application has been mailed). Photos can be emailed to WCC_DEP@dep.state.nj.us. If you do not have a digital photo of yourself, you can mail a passport size photo with your application.”
Some of our signs will go up next week. I think that’s it for now. :)
Have a great weekend!
--Ben
609-713-4464
2017 Updates:
UPDATE #5 - July 25
This is my last update of the season. Patrols can now be ended, though a few females might still come up to nest, so if you are local and want to do an occasional patrol down the road then please do. The equipment will remain at JCNERR until the end of August.
I’ll let Sascha and Adam fill you in with more details as to totals for this year since they are working on entering data from all the surveys/patrols this year. In general it seems that road kills are down. At last count we were right below 30 at 29. On Route 30 I’ve counted 75 roadkills this year.
If anyone has any photos that they’d like to share then you can upload them here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByhIba5Gxt6GQ1pUMjdYQjBiaEE?usp=sharing
Thank you all for your hard work this summer! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to contact me anytime.
UPDATE #4 - June 29
Sorry for my delayed update on the project. Things have been going pretty good so far this season. We have notched over 150 terrapins this year (up from a total of 128 in 2016) and got approval to notch another 100 for a total of 250. I attribute this success in Adam and Sascha’s dedication to surveying GBB on a daily basis. Great job, Adam & Sascha!!
On top of that, road kills seem to be much lower (only 8 so far) than in previous years. It’s hard to determine why exactly there are less road kills, since it could be a variety of things, like members of the public removing injured/killed terps from GBB. I have also met many more people who drive on the road (not as an official volunteer) and help terps cross or block vehicles from potentially striking a terrapin… Keep up the good work. In a couple more weeks nesting will decline.
I just wanted to mention a couple things. I believe it was last week that we were trying to get an injured terp to MATES and told a woman to drop it off at JCNERR for us to transport. Then I heard that they were told that we do not take in injured terps when they were trying to drop it off. I want everyone to know that we do take in injured terps to help bring them for treatment. We are here to help the public in situations like this and don’t want to simply turn people away with nowhere to go (there are no turtle rehabilitators in the area). So, if you encounter this again and don’t know what to do, then please give me a call or shoot me a text anytime!
UPDATE #3 - June 8
Things are starting to heat up (terrapin wise) on Great Bay Blvd. Adam and Sasha notched several females yesterday and recaptured a few from 2016. We also had our first road kill (a gravid female). This year we are changing things up and are leaving the road kills on the road. We will be marking the road kills with white/orange marking paint (it will be in the box). If and when you find a road kill you will mark it by making an X (~12” wide) where the terrapin was hit. This will help make sure that it is not recounted. IMO I believe that leaving the road kills will help drivers to see the issue at hand more clearly. I hope you agree…!
With more seasonal weather expected tomorrow and through the next week, we can expect nesting to increase as well. With that we will need help performing patrols on Great Bay Blvd, S. Green St., Parkertown Dock Rd, and West Creek Dock Rd. this weekend. We will NOT be patrolling Cedar Run Dock Rd this year since MATES and locals there will have that road covered. If you live a good distance away from GBB and don’t want to drive there first to get equipment, then please try downloading the iNaturalist app and add observations of terrapins to our group: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/great-bay-terrapin-project
I would ask you all to please fill out the Google Calendar so we know who is going out and when. This is so we do not have overlapping patrols on GBB and then other roads that are not patrolled. If you cannot use Google Calendar, then you must let us know when you would like to patrol so that we can put you on the calendar for the time and day that you are planning to patrol.
UPDATE #2 - June 1
I drove down Great Bay Blvd today to install a couple signs and repair some of the fence. I saw my first adult female who was on the edge of the road. She was not notched, and I didn’t have the notching gear to mark her. We can start some light patrols this weekend, but we probably won’t see large scale nesting until we get closer to the full moon, next Friday.
If anyone who lives close to GBB want to patrol down there this weekend, then please add an event to the shared Google Calendar so we know when you are out there (and so we are not overlapping patrols). You can see the shared calendar (with updates) here: http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/terrapin/roadpatrol/. To add events to the calendar, open it up here: https://calendar.google.com/, click on the day and time you are planning to volunteer, type in your name, then from the drop down “calendar” box, select “2017 Terrapin Patrols.”
Here is my observation from today looks like on iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6457273
UPDATE #1 - May 24
Hey all,
Thanks for meeting up last night! Right now we are anticipating the start of patrols to begin during the first full week of June (June 5). The full moon that week is on June 9 (Friday). While moon phases do play a role in their reproduction, the weather plays a more important role, so once it starts to warm up more than we could see nesting leading up to the full moon.
We will keep you in the loop so that you know when we will need patrols to begin. In the meantime, myself, Adam, and Sasha will be working on everything else to be sure we are all set. I did add everyone to our shared Google calendar. You can see it here (along with lots of other info, including a link for help on using google calendar): http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/protecting/projects/terrapin/roadpatrol/ (bookmark this page).
To view your google calendar, go here: https://calendar.google.com
If you need anything between now and then, please let me know.