My Terrapin Summer

by CWF Great Bay Terrapin Project Volunteer Intern, Madison Rose O’Malley

This summer, I had the chance to volunteer for the Great Bay Terrapin Project to help survey the local terrapin population within Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area. Being able to assist a vulnerable population was incredibly fulfilling and I personally was able to learn a lot about their behavior during this incredible time. I got to see firsthand just how many female turtles crossed that road to lay their eggs, but unfortunately that also showed me just how many were injured or killed by reckless, inattentive, or outright malicious drivers. One thing I realized during this is just how hardy of an animal the terrapin is. I saw individuals with massive chunks taken out of them, bite marks, claw marks, and huge gashes from boat propellers forever etched into their shells. I realized that despite their vulnerability in early life and extremely slow growth, the defense of their shell and their insane ability to recover from injuries left them with very few threats for a long time. Even many major boat injuries are recoverable, emphasizing the severity of the threat posed by automobiles specifically.

While the number of casualties I was faced with this nesting season was disheartening, the number of healthy, living turtles I saw outnumbered them at least 100 to 1. If this season was anything to go by, the terrapin population in the bay is extremely healthy, and I’m glad to have witnessed this firsthand. Turtles are incredible animals that I’ve always had a lot of love for, and I’ve been very fortunate this summer in getting to watch the terrapins’ behavior and see hundreds of them in their natural habitat. I hope that the thousands of eggs laid this season will also have their best shot at life and that they too will be able to return to nest on Great Bay Boulevard in the future.

Madison O’Malley is attending Stockton University and pursuing a degree in Marine Biology. She is expected to graduate in 2025. We can’t thank Madison enough for all of her devotion to help protect terrapins within the Great Bay estuary!

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