By MICHAEL SHERIDAN, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Now here’s one whale of a tale.
A boat off the coast of New Jersey was struck by a whale that leapt from the water and landed on the craft Monday.
The massive mammal slammed into the 25-foot boat around noon, according to a post on the Friends of Seaside Park Facebook page.
Continue reading “NY Daily News: Whale hits small boat off the coast of New Jersey”by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Surveys of osprey nests in New Jersey have occurred annually for the past forty five years. They are conducted to help determine the overall size and health of the population. The first aerial survey over Barnegat Bay counted only five active nests. Ten years earlier there had been over 50. The combined effects of DDT and habitat loss had taken their toll. No osprey nests were productive and the population at risk of being extirpated from the state.
“In 1974 there were only five active osprey nests on Barnegat Bay. Today there are approximately one hundred and fifty.”
After ospreys were listed as endangered an innovative effort to transplant viable eggs from the Chesapeake Bay to Barnegat Bay began. In addition, to help replace natural nest sites that were lost to development, man-made nest platforms were designed and installed away from human disturbance. Slowly osprey pairs became productive thanks to the die hard effort of State biologists like Pete McLain, Kathy Clark and many volunteers and partners. It’s encouraging for us to look back to see how far we’ve come in the statewide recovery of ospreys in New Jersey.
Continue reading “Ospreys Continue to Thrive in New Jersey”Story by: Alison Levine
A new report into human impacts on nature shows that nearly one million species risk becoming extinct within decades and that current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely fail without radical action, UN biodiversity experts said this week. The report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that grave impacts on people around the world are now likely.
The report identifies five main drivers of this unprecedented decline: changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasion of alien species.
Story by Justin Auciello, WHYY
Welcome home!
It’s that time of the year again when ospreys — the raptors that have staged a miraculous comeback in New Jersey since the early 1970s — migrate north from their wintering grounds in Central America, northern South America, and the Caribbean.
In recent days, ospreys, also known as fish hawks, were spotted in Ocean County and as far north as the Meadowlands.
Story by: Press of Atlantic City
To the trained eye, it was clear Kevin Courts and Michael Riff were illegal terrapin harvesters.
The Hatboro, Pennsylvania, men, one shirtless, were parked next to a marsh off Sea Isle Boulevard last July, with six nets and a long pole leaning against their green truck, the state said. A conservation officer who approached them spotted a turtle crawling under the driver’s side seat and found a cooler packed with hatchlings.
January kicks off bald eagle nesting season in the Garden State, and biologists from CWF and the Endangered and Nongame Species Program are working with volunteers across the state to monitor the nests of approximately 150 bald eagle pairs – up from 1 nesting pair just a few decades ago!
by Jim Wright, northjersey.com —
“Chimney swifts, which migrate through northern New Jersey by the thousands each September, have fallen on tough times as more and more large chimneys fall into disuse.
These small, insect-devouring birds have abandoned traditional migration roosts like the huge chimney at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood in recent years. Another popular roost for these fast-flying, bug-eating birds — a chimney at the Berkeley Elementary School in Westwood — may get capped in 2018.”
NJTV News recently covered the continuing recovery of ospreys in the Garden State by visiting the nesting pair at Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts & Sciences. CWF’s Ben Wurst and David Wheeler joined NJTV for this inspiring video and accompanying story.
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by Ben Wurst, Habitat Program Manager
Northern diamondback terrapins can no longer be harvested from New Jersey waters. Yesterday NJ Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin signed an Administrative Order closing the remainder of the commercial harvest season.
“People who live in coastal communities or visit the shore have long treasured the diamondback terrapin,” Commissioner Martin said. “Unfortunately, due to significantly increased harvesting, more needs to be done to ensure the species remains a viable part of our coastal ecosystem.”
Terrapins have long been an under-served species in New Jersey. In the past there have been many unknowns with regards to their commercial harvest from Nov. 1 to March 31. No permits. No bag limits. No reporting. All while the pet and food trade in Asia is rapidly growing. It wasn’t until last year when a federal permit was filed to export terrapins to Asia which brought more scrutiny to their harvest. The incident found that a total of 3,500 individuals were harvested from NJ waters in 2014! Then in late December, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officers caught fishermen who illegally harvested 800 terrapins (which were all released) on Absecon Bay!!
CWF is the project leader for the development of a regional, multi-state strategy for Northern diamondbacks aimed at achieving long-term sustainability for terrapins throughout the Northern and Mid Atlantic Region (35 partners/8 states).
This is a step in the right direction for terrapins. Next is changing their classification from a games species to a non-game species so they can get the protection they need. We applaud NJDEP and the NJ Fish & Wildlife COs who have helped this amazing and unique species of turtle!