Great Bay Terrapin Project

Along the entire coast of New Jersey, many historic and otherwise suitable nesting areas for female terrapins have been lost or degraded due to shoreline hardening, erosion from coastal flooding and sea level rise. To help provide suitable areas for terrapins to nest, upland areas with soft shorelines can be enhanced by placing sand in these areas. Areas that would be suitable for sand deposition include open areas that are adjacent to coastal saltmarshes and roadways, or where terrapins are known to currently nest.

The best areas to enhance are adjacent to estuaries without a hard shoreline and roadway in-between. Having a road nearby (where sand can be delivered) is also crucial. Once delivered, sand is spread by hand using a rake/shovel to create a mound that is not too steep on the sides and around 2-3 feet high above the surrounding habitat. Wind and water will help move sand over time. 

The enhancement of terrapin nesting habitat is not just as simple as dumping sand in your yard. There are many other important considerations to be sure the efforts are successful. Areas that are enhanced for nesting terrapins must be monitored for nesting to help prevent nests from being predated. Volunteers can be recruited to help monitor these gardens to collect data on nesting females and the number of eggs laid. Then they can install cages over nests to help prevent the eggs from being predated. Alternatively, a large nesting cage can be installed, which allows terrapins to enter and nest but blocks access to large mammals who may predate eggs.

If you’re a landowner/homeowner who lives in any of these watersheds, please contact us to learn more about enhancing your habitat for terrapins: Barnegat Bay, Great Bay, and Absecon Bay.

Here are some steps that you can take to help protect terrapins in the coastal zone.

• Slow down when driving on roads that bisect or go near the saltmarsh and on barrier islands.
• If you find one on the road:
  • Stay safe. Never put yourself at risk! Make sure that you do not endanger yourself, or others, by walking into traffic.
  • When safe to do so, pull your car over. Be careful to not hit any terrapins who are nesting on the road shoulder! Turn on your hazard signals.
  • If safe – Enter the roadway and approach the terrapin.
  • Hold on! Terrapins have strong legs (and they can bite)!
  • Place the live terrapin off the road onto the soft shoulder (dirt or grass) & place them in the same direction they were heading.
  • Optional (in Great Bay Region) – Take a photo (with geolocation on) and add it to our project on iNaturalist.
• If you crab, always use BRDs (by catch reduction devices).
• If you boat, slow down in small creeks to avoid hitting a terrapin with your hull, prop or skeg.
• Never move a terrapin long distances or “somewhere safe.” They have very small home ranges and moving them will only hurt them.
• Terrapins are a non-game species and protected by state law. If you see anyone collecting or taking terrapins from their natural habitat, suspicious activity can be reported to NJDEP’s 24-hour hotline at 877-WARN-DEP.

If you find an injured terrapin, please contact your local animal control agency/humane society for assistance. If you’re near Atlantic County, reach out to John Rokita at Stockton University, who has been caring for injured terrapins for decades: 609-652-4581. Additional guidance can be found here (NJ Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators) and here (NJ Fish & Wildlife list of Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators).
If you find a dead terrapin. Take a couple photos and move it off the roadway. You can record your observation using iNaturalist and then add it to our project.