Two year old terrapin. we found on the road shoulder.
CWF Habitat Manager Ben Wurst is known first and foremost for his work with New Jersey’s resident Osprey population. The job of a habitat manager doesn’t stop with ospreys, however. Ben’s work creating gardens for Diamondback Terrapins to safely nest in was recently the spotlight of an article by Pat Johnson of The Sand Paper.
Like tiny air raid shelters, protective cages sheltering the terrapin nests along Great Bay Boulevard in Little Egg Harbor keep them safe from predators, among them crows and gulls from the air and foxes and raccoons on the ground. The Great Bay Boulevard Terrapin Habitat Project site, commonly called the terrapin garden by its founder, Ben Wurst, habitat project manager for the Conservation Foundation of New Jersey, already has at least 50 nests on its sandy beach next to the salt marsh.
CWF partners with NJ Fish & Wildlife to enhance habitat for terrapins in Little Egg Harbor
by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
A female terrapin nesting along Great Bay Blvd.
Northern diamondback terrapins are a coast hugging, saltmarsh living, shellfish eating, aquatic turtle. Their ultimate survival depends on the ability of adult females to safely access nesting areas during summer months. Since 2010 CWF has worked to document and reduce roadkills of terrapins on roads in southern Ocean and northern Atlantic Counties.
A clutch of eight tiny terrapin hatchlings found beneath one of our X-ING signs. photo by Ben Wurst
While removing our seasonal (better late than never!) terrapin X-ING signs on Great Bay Blvd. in Little Egg Harbor yesterday, we stumbled upon some tiny northern diamondback terrapin hatchlings. These little guys were hiding or trapped under a very large (and heavy) X-ING sign made from old pallets that someone knocked over (I say guys because they hatched later in the season and it was a very cool August, but some could be girls). At first I didn’t see anything, but upon closer inspection I saw several hatchlings in the vegetation. One, two, three, four, five, six. Then I dug a little with my hand and found two more. The sign had been atop a nest. Continue reading “Photo from the Field”
Training Session scheduled for May 12th at 6pm in Tuckerton
A female terrapin pauses while crossing Great Bay Blvd in Little Egg Harbor, NJ.
We work hard to protect wildlife for future generations to enjoy. One of those species, who is largely an underserved species in New Jersey is the northern diamondback terrapin. Terrapins are so cool yet hardly noticed by many. They face a HUGE amount of threats. To list a few (from greatest to least): Poaching, drowning in crab traps, road mortality, predation (usually of eggs or young), and collisions with boats and boat props. That’s a long list of threats to the health of their population, which no one really knows how they are doing…
What we’ve done with them in Tuckerton and Little Egg Harbor is address a problem which was believed to be the root cause for their decline in the area. Studies that have been done in the area have stated that the overall size and age of terrapins has decreased over time. Another documented the total road mortality rate at 70% of individuals that crossed the road (the actual rate in a more recent study was around 30%, but that’s still high and having an impact). Either way, each year many terrapins are being injured and killed by motor vehicles.
Each year we recruit volunteer “Terrapin Stewards” to help patrol area roads. This hardy and extremely dedicated group of volunteers work tirelessly to prevent terrapins from becoming road kill and also collect valuable data on their annual migration to find suitable nesting areas. On May 12th at 6:00pm we are hosting a short training session for anyone interested in volunteering this year. Attendees will also learn more about all of the work that we’ve done over the past 5 years.
We took advantage of the break in cold/wet weather along the southeast coast of New Jersey and installed a new nesting platform for ospreys this week. The new platform was installed for a pair that previously nested on sensitive equipment used by the Rutgers University Marine Field Station on Great Bay Blvd. in Little Egg Harbor. The equipment was located on a short cluster of pilings near the boardwalk to the Station. It failed to produce young in 2013. More than likely it was predated by raccoon, the main ground predator of osprey young.
A large number of volunteers showed up to help out. The actual install was quite easy considering it could be accessed by the land via Great Bay Blvd. The platform was placed along a tidal creek so that biologists can easily access the nest for future surveys. Rutgers staff will install deterrents on the old nest so birds can’t nest there when they return in late March. You can see the location of the nest on Osprey Watch or drive out on GBB to see it in person.
Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help!
Today nine volunteers assisted with the installation of this nesting platform inside Great Bay Blvd. Wildlife Management Area. The platform was built during last year’s Sandy relief effort and was several “extra” platforms that were built using donated materials. It’s being used to replace an existing nest that is too close to disturbance and prone to predation. The new platform is far from disturbance, gives them protection from predators, but is close enough to the road for wildlife photographers and birders to observe them at a safe distance. You can report nesting activity for this new nest platform on Osprey Watch.
Kristin prepares to release the injured terrapin her Dad found on Rt. 72. Photo courtesy Kristin Ryerson
“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.
Last Thursday there was a flurry of activity throughout coastal New Jersey. It was one of the peak days of the beginning of the northern diamondback terrapin nesting season. I had scheduled myself to be off to work on projects around my house but ended up working for half the day on our Great Bay Terrapin Conservation Project. Female terrapins were everywhere! They were crossing all over Great Bay Blvd., a 5 mile long road that bisects pristine terrapin habitat. The shoulders of the road are suitable nesting habitat as well, so at times as many as 10-15 terrapins could be seen in one small section of the road. There were so many that one terrapin bumped right into another one on the shoulder of the road!! They were digging nests and laying eggs all over the place. It was certainly a rare sight. Luckily traffic was mild and the weather was clear so there were little road kills. One female fell victim to a Little Egg Harbor Twp. mower who was mowing the edges of the road. This certainly wasn’t the best day to mow the shoulders! Before more terrapins could be killed we contacted LEHT public works and they called off their mower until further notice. On a side note, we have asked the township and the environmental commission to adopt a delayed mowed regime in the past and unfortunately one terrapin died because of this. I even emailed the public works director early last week about nesting activity picking up and I asked for him to please let me know when they were planning to mow so we could have someone walk in front of the mower to be sure no terrapins were hit. On the positive side, we were able to salvage 7 eggs from the terrapin, and they were successfully placed in a hatchery in Loveladies on LBI. We have our fingers crossed that they’ll hatch later this summer!
Finally, we have had more of a presence on Great Bay Blvd this year with the assistance of our new intern, Kristin Ryerson. She is collecting data (size, age, weight, and other data) on terrapins that she encounters while conducting road patrols on Great Bay Blvd. We’ll be using this data to compare it to some collected in Barnegat Bay and past studies that were conducted on the road. Her position is a volunteer position so I really appreciate all of her help so far! We also have volunteers who are acting as “Terrapin Stewards” where they also conduct road patrols to collect sightings of terrapins, educate visitors to the road about terrapins, and they also make sure terrapins safely cross the road. Without their help this project would not be successful!
Northern Diamondback Terrapins are native to New Jersey and inhabit the many miles of coastal salt marshes along the Atlantic Coast and Delaware Bay. Terrapins were once very common and were used as a main food source of protein by Native Americans and then European settlers. In the early 1900’s it was hunted so extensively that it almost faced extinction. Luckily, during the 1920’s, use of terrapins for food dropped in popularity. This allowed the population to slightly recover and avoid extinction. However, several major threats still threaten their survival. Habitat loss, mortality from being drowned in crab traps, and road mortality all pose major threats to the health of the population. Each year thousands of terrapins are killed by motor vehicles throughout their range and here in New Jersey, Great Bay Boulevard is no exception.
Great Bay Boulevard or Seven Bridges Road extends approximately 5 miles into estuarine emergent wetlands and northern diamondback terrapin nesting habitat. The boulevard is surrounded by over 5,500 acres of protected coastal habitat (Great Bay Boulevard Wildlife Management Area – Managed by NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife), a relatively unspoiled, estuarine ecosystem. This road, at times, has high a volume of traffic, especially on weekends when boaters and outdoorsmen travel on the road to get to and from one of the several active marinas along the road. Currently during May-August there is no protection to terrapins when they cross Great Bay Blvd. from vehicle traffic. Most terrapins who cross the road are adult females who are laden with eggs and are looking for a suitable nesting site. These females lay their eggs in a sand/gravel mixture where it is easy for them to dig and cover their eggs, like sandy beaches and in scrub-shrub habitat along road edges. Many female terrapins are inadvertently hit-by-car and injured or killed by speeding motorists or people unaware of the summer nesting habits of the terrapin. This high mortality rate has caused the local population to decline and it has also caused the average size of adults to drop significantly over the past 20 years.
How you can help:
Volunteers are needed to help install ~ 4,000 ft. of barrier fencing along Great Bay Blvd to help reduce the amount of road kills. Sambol construction will be helping us by trenching a ditch for us to place the fence in. Volunteers will help lay out fence, install metal posts, hang fence, and back fill trenches.
Please pack a lunch and bring plenty of water, sunblock, and bug spray.
We are starting work on Friday at 8am, but if we don’t finish, we’ll wrap up work on Saturday morning.
We will meet after the first bridge; click here for a Google Map link. You can park here and then we can car pool to the section of the road where the fence will be installed.
Last year Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ started a new project that was focused on reducing the amount of terrapins that were killed by motor vehicles. The project began because of one individual terrapin that I encountered on Great Bay Blvd in 2009. I observed the female terrapin as she walked along the edge of the Blvd. I saw this as being odd. Typically they cross the road and often at a speedy pace (probably because they know the apparent danger from crossing roads). I stopped and saw that she had an injury to her lower mandible, probably from a motor vehicle. I knew that she needed help.
Terrapins face a variety of threats in their environment. An untold number are trapped in crab traps that are not fitted with Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs), some are hit by speeding boats and jet skis, and many more are injured or killed while attempting to cross roads. Along Great Bay Blvd. in Little Egg Harbor several studies have documented the amount of live and dead individuals on the road.
As soil and coastal waters begin to warm, terrapins begin to become active again. In late April/early May hatchlings begin to emerge from nest cavities where they overwintered. Adults also begin to become active, but mostly remain in the waters where they live until June when females emerge to lay eggs in nests they dig on land.
The penninsula that surrounds Great Bay Blvd. is pristine habitat for terrapins in southern Barnegat Bay.
Last year we raised enough funding to develop and print an educational brochure, purchase and install “Terrapin X-ING” signs, and install 4,000 feet of barrier fencing. The fencing was placed along the first stretch of road where the highest mortality rates were recorded. The fence proved to be effective at reducing road kills and increasing awareness of terrapins. The fence was removed in late 2010. This year it will be installed again along the same portion of road with help from a local construction company, Sambol Construction. After this season, we hope to keep the fence up year-round and hope to fence the whole first section of the road (and possibly more).
This year to help reduce the amount of terrapins that are hit by motor vehicles, we are recruiting volunteers to act as “Terrapin Stewards.” Stewards will be asked to routinely drive, walk, or bike down Great Bay Blvd. during the summer months from June to mid-July (especially on weekends, holidays and when there is a full or new moon). Volunteers will educate the public about terrapins, their threats in the environment, and our project. Volunteers will also help terrapins safely cross roads and help record locations of live or dead animals. No more than 10 volunteers will be recruited this year.
Our Message to visitors:
The habitat that surrounds Great Bay Boulevard is very important to the reproduction of northern diamondback terrapins, a species in decline in New Jersey. Female terrapins often nest along the soft shoulders of roadways. Sometimes they enter the roadway to reach these suitable nesting areas where they lay their eggs. Research has shown that dozens of female terrapins are killed by motor vehicles each year along Great Bay Boulevard. Please help conserve terrapins by driving carefully while traveling along the road.
If you’d like to participate you are required to attend a training session on May 3rd @ 6pm at the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve. Volunteers will fill out paperwork and learn more about terrapins and our project. You must register to attend this training/information session.
