An adult female terrapin treks across our Turtle Garden in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. June 2021. photo by Ben Wurst
As with many of our conservation projects, they are centered around compassion for a species in need. One of which is the northern diamondback terrapin: a coast hugging turtle who inhabits salt marsh habitat from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. In New Jersey they range from the Meadowlands south along the coast and in the Delaware Bay. Terrapins are known to have a very small home ranges and some may inhabit the same small creek for their entire lives. During summer months, females leave the protection of their salt marsh habitat to seek out sandy nest sites above the high tide line. Many times, they encounter a roadway and the results can be deadly.
Northern Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are a native species of New Jersey turtle, inhabiting the brackish waters of the state’s coastal salt marshes and estuaries. The survival of the species depends on the ability of female turtles to access safe nesting habitat every summer, a struggle for the species these days with roadways disconnecting large swaths of their habitat. To help give females a better chance of successfully reproducing, CWF partnered with New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife last year to create a half-acre “turtle garden” at a former marina within the Great Bay Wildlife Management Area.
CWF Habitat Manager Ben Wurst took Pat Johnson of TheSandpaper.net to the site recently to survey the success of this new turtle garden and walk through what it takes to save a species like the diamondback terrapin.
Check out the except below!
It’s diamondback terrapin hatching season in the newest turtle garden established by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey in the Great Bay Wildlife Management Area. Project Manager Ben Wurst has been monitoring the 50 or so nests that were created this spring to protect them from predators so the hatchlings could have a fighting chance of survival.
Last week, Conserve Wildlife joined the American Littoral Society at their annual Parade of Boats event in conjunction with the Operation Oyster program.
Conserve Wildlife, through funding from NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, has spent the last several years in a related effort to clean up Barnegat Bay. Removing derelict crab traps or ghost pots from the bay has been an ongoing initiative. Ghost pots are lost in a variety of ways including improper rigging to buoys and buoy lines cut by passing boat traffic.
The issue spans not only the commercial crabbing industry, but the recreational industry as well. The longer the pots sit on the bottom of the bay the more likely they are to serve as a deathtrap for a variety of marine species. The more marine life that becomes trapped the more the pots continue to attract other marine life. This is of particular concern for Northern Diamondback Terrapins that frequently investigate these pots looking for a quick meal only to be trapped and quickly drown. (more…)
ESTIMATING AGE: Marissa Thomasen shows Bass River School children how she measures the carapace of a terrapin for her data log. Photo by Pat Johnson, The Sandpaper
Giving kids a head start in learning about nature is the point of Head Start Terrapins, a school course started by the Ocean County MATES program and Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. Last October, Ben Wurst, CWFNJ project manager for Bass River and Balanger Creek, picked up seven quarter-sized baby diamondback terrapins from the roadside on Great Bay Boulevard, Little Egg Harbor Township.
Dedicated volunteers help reduce mortality of adult female terrapins
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Volunteers Elizabeth and Courtney measure the height of a female terrapins carapace.
Now that Northern diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are officially considered a nongame species, our work to help conserve breeding adult females is more justifiable. Before July 2016, adult terrapins, including egg bearing females, could be harvested during an open season from November to March. With that said, it was troublesome to know that a 15+ year old female that you helped safely cross a road in summer, could be harvested, shipped to Asia and eaten only a few months later… Now, we can rest (somewhat) easy knowing that the hard work of our dedicated volunteers will live on and help the population grow (there are still many threats to terrapins including collisions with boats, vehicles, poaching, drowning in ghost crab pots, etc…) (more…)
Last week, Conserve Wildlife joined the American Littoral Society at their annual Parade of Boats event in conjunction with the Operation Oyster program.
