Category: Reptiles

This story marks the second of five blog stories spotlighting New Jersey’s Diamondback Terrapin – and educating people on the research and efforts being done to protect these fascinating reptiles!

Part 1, Monday, was an introduction into the world of the Diamondback Terrapin. Part 2, today’s blog post, will feature CWF’s research efforts to protect the terrapins. Part 3, on Wednesday, will look at great places to view these beautiful turtles . Part 4, Thursday, will highlight some important ways you can help protect the Diamondback Terrapins. Part 5, Friday, will showcase some other important regional research being done by our partners.

by Stephanie Egger, CWF Wildlife Biologist

I am pleased to announce CWF was awarded a grant from the Regional Conservation Needs Program* for the development of a conservation strategy (strategy) that focuses on the conservation, management, and protection of terrapins from Massachusetts to Virginia.

For the next two years, we will be working with over 30 partners, many of whom are part of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the Diamondback Terrapin Working Group (DTWG), assembling data and developing a strategy with the help of their years of expertise working with terrapins.

The overarching goal of the strategy is to help achieve long-term sustainability of terrapins by identifying the species current and historical populations and its habitat (known and unknown occupancy); characterizing and ranking threats; prioritizing focal areas for regional and individual state management; identifying data gaps; and reviewing the regulatory status in each state. The strategy will describe a strategic initiative for implementation of conservation actions across eight states and identify focal areas for conservation. The results of the strategy could be used to solicit additional funding for implementation for more regionally significant areas for terrapins in the future.

We’ve hit the ground running for this project and will convene the partners in meetings later this year at the College of William & Mary in Virginia and Cape Cod, Massachusetts as well as visit states for more local terrapin meetings.

More information on this project can be found on the Northeast Regional Conservation Needs (RCN) Grant Program site.

*“The Northern Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) in the Northeastern United States:  A Regional Conservation Strategy” is supported by State Wildlife Grant funding awarded through the RCN Program.  The RCN Program joins thirteen northeast states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a partnership to address landscape-scale, regional wildlife conservation issues.  Progress on these regional issues is achieved through combining resources, leveraging funds, and prioritizing conservation actions identified in the State Wildlife Action Plans.  See RCNGrants.org for more information.

 

Stephanie Egger is a Wildlife Biologist for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ and Co-Chair of the Mid-Atlantic region of the Diamondback Terrapin Working Group

Join us on this fascinating journey into the world of the Diamondback Terrapin

Last week, I drove slowly down a road with no buildings or homes on either side, with only vast salt marsh as far as the eye could see. Over the course of the roughly 10-mile round trip, I passed maybe four other cars. But there was another kind of traveler that I found in abundance – 22 diamondback terrapins crossing the road on the way out, and another 18 of these gorgeous turtles on the way back (although I’m sure I saw some of them twice)!

Amazingly enough, this was a drive along the New Jersey coast in June. If you haven’t guessed it, I was on Great Bay Boulevard in Little Egg Harbor. And if you haven’t been there, now is the time to go – it is a true wildlife spectacle that you have to see to believe.

New Jersey’s coast is filled with wonders during the summer months – wonders that go beyond its crowded beaches, boardwalks, and traffic jams! Believe it or not, the coast still has plenty of nature to be found, often in total seclusion. And diamondback terrapins offer as amazing a wildlife story as any.

So today we kick off Terrapin Week! Read our first installment below for an up-close look at the terrapin’s habitat, appearance, range and status. Then stay tuned for a brand new story each day this week by our terrapin biologists Ben Wurst and Stephanie Egger, with topics including our biologists’ research projects, how our volunteers are making a difference, terrapins across the East Coast, and New Jersey locations where you have the best chance of seeing terrapins in the wild!

 

David Wheeler

Executive Director, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ

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Meet the Terrapin

by Stephanie Feigin, CWF Program Coordinator

Northern diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are native to New Jersey and inhabit the many miles of coastal salt marshes and estuaries along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bay. They exclusively inhabit coastal salt marshes, estuaries, tidal creeks and ditches with brackish water (a mix of both salt and freshwater) which is bordered by spartina grass. They are the only turtle species in the world that is specially adapted to spend its entire life in this type of water. 

The northern diamondback terrapin is a medium-sized turtle that varies in length from only 4 to 5.5” in males to 6 to 9” in females. Terrapins have a gray, brown, or black carapace (top of shell) and a lighter plastron (bottom of shell), which is a greenish-yellow. The skin is light to dark gray with black spots and other dark markings. Both sexes have a light colored upper mandible. They are named for their diamond shaped pattern on their carapace. Adult terrapins primarily eat mollusks and crustaceans, including snails, fiddler crabs, and mussels. They also eat blue crabs, green crabs, marine worms, fish, and carrion.

Terrapins are cold-blooded, or ectothermic. They hibernate during the winter and bury themselves at the bottom of or in the banks of creeks and ditches. Studies have shown that terrapins also exhibit a high level of site fidelity or they return to the same territory every year, some even occupy the same small creeks year after year. Terrapins have a very small home range, from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

In 2001, a status review of reptiles in New Jersey recommended that the Northern diamondback terrapin be listed as a species of special concern in New Jersey. The listing as special concern “warrants special attention because of some evidence of decline” (NJ ENSP-Species Status Listing) and little is known about their actual population status in New Jersey. However, terrapins are still harvested for food in New Jersey and the total harvested annually is not known. Since Terrapins are still considered a “Game” species subject to harvest, the Special Concern designation was never officially applied to the species and will not be until they are re-classified as a “Non-game” species.

Major threats to the health of the population include; habitat loss, mortality from being drowned in crab traps, and road mortality. Each year hundreds of terrapins are killed by motor vehicles throughout their range and here in New Jersey. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) and their biologists are working hard to protect these incredible reptiles with their many conservation efforts. We are asking you to “Be Terrapin Aware” while driving along roads in New Jersey’s coastal region, and stay tuned for more posts during Terrapin Week about our efforts to protect these turtles!

By Karena DiLeo

Cape May, New Jersey- Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) in partnership with NJDEP, Mosquito Control, Atlantic City Electric and USFWS recently completed construction of a series of vernal pools in Cape May, NJ. This is the second complex in a series of pools along the “spine” of the Peninsula to create sustainable vernal-pool habitat above anticipated sea-level rise.

These pools will also create a migration corridor for assemblages of amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates to increase meta-population dynamics and allow species to move northward off the Peninsula.

Following excavation of the pools, CWF, USFWS, and Atlantic City Electric held a volunteer

planting day to plant native shrubs along the pools to enhance habitat and stabilize berms. Native shrubs including: buttonbush, low-bush blueberry, inkberry holly, sweet pepper bush, and beach plum were generously donated by Atlantic City Electric.

With Memorial Day Weekend upon us, summer is unofficially here for New Jerseyans. That means plenty of tourists enjoying shore, sand, surf, and sun – but it also means other types of annual summer visitors to our coast: bottlenose dolphins, sea turtles, and whales. However, what may be inspiring sightings from a healthy distance can become tragic encounters when marine animals become stranded or entangled in nets.

This story marks the fourth of five blog stories spotlighting New Jersey’s marine mammals and sea turtles – and educating people how to help animals in need, rather than make a bad situation worse.

Part 1, on Monday, revealed the bottlenose dolphin die-off striking the Eastern Seaboard. Part 2, on Tuesday, featured a Question-and-Answer on the dolphin mortality event with NOAA’s MendyGarron. Part 3, yesterday looked at how people can safely help stranded marine mammals without making the mistake of being a “hero”. And Part 5, tomorrow, will reveal the importance of reporting sightings – both for live or dead marine mammals.

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MARINE MAMMAL & SEA TURTLE WEEK: Sea turtles navigate a dangerous path, from entanglements to cold-stunning

By Sara DeAngelo, Conservation Intern

Over 100 first responders along the coast of New Jersey attended Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s marine mammal stranding workshops this past month. Speakers and interactive discussions educated the first responders on how to handle a marine mammal or sea turtle stranding.

The term “stranding” is used for sea turtles and marine mammals that are found along the beach dead or alive. Their death or injury may be resulting from a predator, parasites, pollution, entanglement, etc. In most stranding cases, the cause of the animal stranding itself is unknown. Determining the cause of the animal stranding will help us understand what is going on in the ocean that may be harmful to certain populations.

Sea turtles, however, face a unique set of challenges. We have four species of sea turtles that may be found in New Jersey waters during the summer. Loggerheads are the most common, while green sea turtles and Atlantic leatherbacks – massive creatures weighing as much as a small car – are less frequently seen but not uncommon. Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the rarest visitors.

Most of these sea turtles come to New Jersey during the summer months and enjoy the warmer waters. Yet when our seasons change and the waters cool, some sea turtles may lag behind rather than returning south for warmer waters. These turtles can face “cold stunning”.

In colder waters, sea turtles do not have the capability of warming their own bodies. If a turtle is cold stunned, it looks as if it is dead because its heart rate decreases, it becomes lethargic, circulation decreases, and it may be in shock or have pneumonia.

This condition can even result in a common mistake of a passerby or first responder believing a turtle is dead, when it is actually just “cold-stunned”. Unless the sea turtle clearly looks like it has been dead for a while, it is best to report the turtle to a marine mammal and sea turtle stranding hotline.

Sea turtles can also get entangled in fishing nets. At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation workshops this month, first responders were informed to, upon sighting of an entangled or stranded animal, immediately call the Marine Mammal Stranding Center located in Brigantine, NJ, by calling 1-609-266-0538. They could also contact NOAA’s Northeast Region Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding and Entanglement Hotline by calling 1-866-755-6622.

Boaters who encounter an entangled sea turtle should try to remain near the turtle until help arrives if possible. On shifting seas, it could be hard for the expert responding to the call to locate the animal without the initial person spotting it standing by to direct them there.

One warning was made very clear in the workshop: boaters should never get into the water with a sea turtle or stranded marine mammal. It is extremely dangerous for both the responder and for the animal.

Should the sea turtle be on the beach itself, other tips are helpful for the first responders. While waiting for the trained rescue staff, the first responders were urged to secure the scene, try to keep people at least 100 feet away, and not to touch the animal. Keeping curious beachgoers distant from the animal will minimize stressing out the animal even more. The responders were told that calling the local police department may help enforce the directions to keep back from the animal.

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Green Turtle
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Leatherback
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Atlantic Loggerhead
• CWF On-line Field Guide: Kemp’s Ridley Turtle

 

Get college credit and help protect terrapins!

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Since 2010, Conserve Wildlife Foundation (CWF) has been engaged in the conservation of northern diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) in the Little Egg Harbor area. This year, CWF seeks to continue to protect terrapins through additional conservation and education initiatives that include the installation and maintenance of barrier fencing, road patrols on Great Bay Blvd., and the continuation of this student internship. This year we are attempting to replicate a study conducted in 2004 on the same road, and results will help us to better determine how effective our conservation measures have been.

Interns will conduct field work in the lower Barnegat Bay watershed including hourly road patrols on Great Bay Blvd., volunteer steward scheduling and management, educational related activities, and the best part – save hundreds of female terrapins from becoming road kill!

Currently this is a volunteer student internship, but there is an opportunity for this to be a paid internship through the Barnegat Bay Student Grant Program. Willing students must develop a scientific research project to qualify for the grant. The deadline to apply is April 4th.

• Learn more and apply
• Make a donation to support our “Be Terrapin Aware” campaign!

Barnegat Bay terrapin moves south…

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Northern diamondback terrapins are known to have a very small home range. Some have only been found to occupy the same small creeks, year after year. To help study the size of terrapin populations in New Jersey researchers have used a method called mark and recapture. No one really knows the size of the terrapins population in New Jersey and throughout the range of the Northern subspecies, which ranges from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. A portion of the population is captured, marked, and released. The method is repeated and the number of marked individuals is counted and should reflect a proportional number of marked individuals in the entire population.

Since 2001 terrapins have been marked on Great and Barnegat Bays. This past summer we got hits on three females that were PIT tagged (it’s like the Home Again chip for your pet). Their tags were read during road patrols by our intern Ashley. Two of the three were linked back to previous captures. Each is ID’d by the notches on their carapace (upper shell). Each bridge scute on their carapace is assigned a alpha code.

• ACIJV –  First encountered on June 20, 2008 at age 7. Weighed 805 grams with a carapace length of 157cm. She was recaptured again this summer by Ashley on June 9. She is now 12 years old and weighed 934grams. Her carapace was 170cm long. She moved only .86 miles or 4,561 feet from her last encounter, which is typically the small range seen in terrapins.
• The second is ABINOQ – she was orginally trapped on Barnegat Bay (near Gunning River and the Barnegat Docks) on August 23, 2011. She was 8 when trapped and weighed 766 grams with a CL of 170mm. She was re-caught this summer while crossing Great Bay Blvd in Little Egg Harbor. This now makes her 10 years old and she weighed 965 grams and had a CL of 180mm. Now she moved a total of 16.7 miles in two years!!

I find it really hard to believe that ABINOQ traveled 16 miles south in two years. There are a couple ways that she could have moved that far south. Superstorm Sandy – I think that this is a good possibility. Usually in late October most terrapins should have been entering hibernation, but a few could have still been active. I got a couple calls shortly after the storm hit from residents in the Little Egg Harbor area who found displaced terrapins in their yards. Given the fact that upwards of 6 feet of water were forced onto the coastal marshes with the storm surge, this could have pushed ABINOQ south towards Great Bay Blvd, where she was encountered this summer. Human intervention – this is also a very likely scenario. People often pick up terrapins when they find them on or near roads and sometimes take them home. Other times they take them and put them somewhere else, where they think they should belong… This summer I found a large female on an inland road in Upper Twp. (Cape May County). She was over 1.5 miles from any kind of brackish water…which is a long distance for any aquatic turtle to travel on land!

These findings are really interesting and with the data collected we’ll be able to learn a lot more about the local terrapin population. We hope to expand the use of PIT tags readers by fundraising to purchase additional readers. If you’d like to donate to help us purchase one, please shoot me an email.

My name is Ashley Hecht and I’m going to be a senior this year at Delaware Valley College. My major is Biology with a concentration in Zoology.

This summer I had the opportunity to work with northern diamondback terrapins. Every year female terrapins come out of the bay to lay their eggs and end up crossing the roads, often getting hit by cars. My job was helping reduce the high mortality rates of terrapins from motor vehicles by safely crossing terrapins across the road. My days consisted of patrolling for terrapins along Great Bay Blvd, in Tuckerton, New Jersey. I came across anywhere from 20-60 terrapins a day. I recorded data on the age, length, width, height, and weight, along with if they were gravid (i.e – a female who is full of eggs) .

I didn’t just work with terrapins; I also had to work with the public, which I found many to be very supportive of the conservation effort. One day I was taking measurements on a female, and a car came up behind me. The next thing I know a whole family ran out grabbed another female walking by and moved her safely across the road. They continued to do it for 3 more hours. I’m pretty sure they crossed more terrapins than I did that day.

Many times I came across dead terrapins. Usually it was when the road had a lot of traffic and a ton of terrapins.That’s what you have to expect. I only came across one injured terrapin. After she got hit, she laid 9 eggs on the side of the road. With the help of a volunteer I was able to safely transport her eggs and put them in a nesting cavity over at the Tuckerton Seaport. It was in hopes that I could save the female, so I drove her down to the Wetlands Institute in a bucket strapped in the front passenger seat of my car. I have to say that was the most interesting 40 minute car ride I ever had. I’m sure I got many looks talking to a yellow bucket, while speeding down the parkway.

You never knew what you are going to see on the road, but what you hoped for was terrapins safely crossing the road. I saw many doing just that this summer and I am glad. I wasn’t very familiar with this species, but now I can tell you a whole lot.  I enjoyed every moment of this internship, even the green heads.

I have loved New Jersey’s wildlife my entire life. This is probably because I grew up spending my summers at the Delaware Bay. As a child, I never guessed that helping terrapins across the road, flipping over every horseshoe crab, and watching the many species of birds land on the beach, would lead me to want a career in Wildlife Biology. This was the opportunity I was looking for to help me get experience for my future career goal. Next year I hope to be furthering my education or being in the field.

 

Experience gained; many terrapins saved!

by Kristin Ryerson, CWF Terrapin Project Intern

“What did you do this summer?” was a question I was frequently asked by family, friends and classmates when I recently returned to college this fall. Well, where to begin! Ben Wurst, CWF’s Habitat Program Manager, set a goal this summer to lower the number of road killed Northern Diamondback Terrapins on Great Bay Boulevard in Tuckerton, NJ. In previous studies, 50 terrapins could be killed in one nesting season—the main cause? People. Careless drivers who are either speeding or simply oblivious to the many yellow signs warning them of crossing nesting terrapins and the fact that they are in the middle of an extremely vital wildlife refuge. So, this summer, I had the privilege of being the Great Bay Terrapin Project’s Intern, and my job was to help save nesting terrapins crossing the road and to take valuable data on those I saw. Ben gave me some equipment and the knowledge I would need when working on the road. Through road patrols, educating the public, maintaining the previously installed barrier fencing, painting road signs and data collection, I learned more than I had imagined and had an amazing experience.

Continue reading “What did you do this summer?”

A glimpse into the life of one adult female terrapin

By Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

Over the summers of 2004 and 2005, as part of my graduate research for Saint Joseph’s University and in partnership with Rutgers University Marine Field Station, I tagged 300 adult female northern diamondback terrapins to gain a better understanding of their nesting movements, nesting events, and road mortality on Great Bay Boulevard in Tuckerton, New Jersey.  These terrapins were tagged with PIT tags (Passive Integrated Transponder tags) which are the size of a grain of rice and inserted directly under the skin.  The PIT tags are individually numbered and can be read with a hand-held scanner in the field for essentially the life of the terrapin.  Some terrapins were nesting more than once per season and generally within 50 meters from their original tagged location, but a few were found great distances (1000 meters) from their initial location (See Szerlag-Egger and McRobert 2007).

Ben Wurst, our Habitat Program Manager, and Kristin Ryerson, a CWFNJ intern, were able to scan some terrapins this summer as part of the Great Bay Terrapin Project and came across one of the terrapins I tagged in 2005!  She has survived 7 years (and counting) on Great Bay Boulevard from becoming road kill on a road where 50 terrapins can be killed in a nesting season (See Szerlag and McRobert 2006).  The distance between her location in 2005 and 2012 was 826 meters!  It appears that she may have emerged from the creek and decided to travel north to nest instead of south (see Google Earth image below).  I am hopeful we can continue to monitor the terrapins on Great Bay Boulevard and collect further information on tagged terrapins as it may have management implications for the future.

Volunteers help install innovative new barrier to reduce terrapin road kills

by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager

Last week volunteers from CWF and Exelon-Oyster Creek Generating Station helped to install 1,000 feet of barrier “fencing” along the first stretch of Great Bay Blvd inside Great Bay Blvd Wildlife Management Area. The new barrier is a new design and concept for reptile conservation here in NJ and possibly the rest of N. America. While many other types of barriers have been used by other organizations this type has not. It is a corrugated rigid plastic drainage pipe that was cut in half. It was made in NJ by ADS (Advanced Drainage Solutions) and was purchased through Caterina Supply, a local supplier of the pipe. Funding was provided through a Partners Agreement between Little Egg Harbor Twp. and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (who purchased the pipe). The pipe came pre-cut from ADS and was transported by Eric Schrading with USFWS. To install the pipe we trenched a ditch and then hand dug it to the width of the 10″ pipe. It was then backfilled and screwed together where two pieces met. The main reason from switching from a traditional fence type barrier to this was to reduce future maintenance. Fences are easily damaged by motor vehicles and posts have been stolen or ripped out of the ground, so they take more time to repair throughout the year. This pipe should be maintenance free and hopefully if a car drives over it only minor damage will occur…we hope!!

If you’re interested in using this in your own reptile/amphibian conservation project email me and I’d be happy to help in any way possible!

Thank you to all the volunteers, vendors, and partners who help make this project a success!! To name a few: Home Depot of Manahawkin for donating the trencher for an afternoon, USFWS & Eric Schrading for purchasing and transporting the pipe, and Little Egg Harbor Twp. for their continued support of this project.