by CWF Great Bay Terrapin Project Volunteer Intern, Matthew McCall
CWF Volunteer Intern Matthew McCall holding two adult female terrapins.
This summer I had the opportunity to work as an intern for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF), researching and surveying Northern diamondback terrapins. Words could not describe how excited I was for this position, working with Senior Wildlife Biologist, Ben Wurst every day this summer was an incredible learning experience. Mr. Wurst taught me how to conduct surveys Great Bay Blvd Wildlife Management Area. This area is an ecological marvel, I witnessed hundreds of terrapins crossing the road on multiple occasions. I remember one day in particular when such a large quantity of terrapins were moving that it took me six hours to drive down that five-mile road, over two hundred terrapins were observed on Great Bay Boulevard that day alone.
by CWF Great Bay Terrapin Project Volunteer Intern, Madison Rose O’Malley
Madison holding an adult female terrapin with scars showing damage consistent with an impact with a boat/outboard.
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.
Work on this project is done under NJDEP Fish & Wildlife Scientific Collecting Permit SC2023048
When we founded the Great Bay Terrapin Project, our goal was to reduce roadkills of adult female northern diamondback terrapins. This was largely due to personal observations of multiple roadkills during the summer months along roads in Little Egg Harbor Township and past research which accounted for a large number of adults DOR (dead on road). Since 2010, we’ve been able to cut the historic roadkill rate in half, all thanks to our devoted volunteers who patrol area roads and raise awareness for them! This allows adults to grow larger and live longer lives, which helps to ensure their long term survival.
Kelly Scott, Resource Interpretive Specialist 3, NJ State Park Service holds Bayley before releasing her into the wild.
This past Monday I joined several partners to release a very special northern diamondback terrapin back into the wild. This adult female terrapin had been illegally collected and sold into the black market pet trade. Over the past couple years we have been working on a plan to get her back the wild.
Each of these partners, including Dr. John Wnek, MATES/Project Terrapin, Kelly Scott, NJ State Park Service, Brian Zarate, NJDEP Fish & Wildlife played an important role in her successful release (you can read about each of their roles in a story by Dr. Wnek below). We gathered in the parking lot of a former marina which CWF & NJDEP Fish & Wildlife converted into suitable nesting habitat for female terrapins. For all of us, I think it’s safe to say that it was bittersweet to see her swim off into the brackish water. She was home.
Over the past several years, I have worked with LBIF to help guide their efforts to provide habitat for wildlife on their property in Loveladies. We have always wanted to establish another, larger “turtle garden” for nesting female N. diamondback terrapins, since they are a common visitor during summer months. This spring we received a small grant from the Garden Club of Long Beach Island to establish a new turtle garden at LBIF. Late last month we ordered 15 tons of mason sand from a local supplier, which provides excellent nesting habitat, with small grain size and little organic matter. Myself and Jeff Ruemeli, who is the new Director of Sciences at LBIF, worked to install coir logs to hold the sand before spreading it out by hand. I followed up with planting around 30 seaside goldenrod plants at the site to help stabilize sand and provide foraging habitat for pollinators.
An adult female terrapin treks across our Turtle Garden in Little Egg Harbor, NJ. June 2021. photo by Ben Wurst
As with many of our conservation projects, they are centered around compassion for a species in need. One of which is the northern diamondback terrapin: a coast hugging turtle who inhabits salt marsh habitat from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras. In New Jersey they range from the Meadowlands south along the coast and in the Delaware Bay. Terrapins are known to have a very small home ranges and some may inhabit the same small creek for their entire lives. During summer months, females leave the protection of their salt marsh habitat to seek out sandy nest sites above the high tide line. Many times, they encounter a roadway and the results can be deadly.
Female bog turtle basking. Photo Credit: Eric Sambol
I recently found myself walking along a set of railroad tracks in Union County, returning to my car after assessing habitat for an upcoming coverboard study. I stepped off the tracks at the sound of an approaching cargo train and prepared to wait it out in silence, when a gentleman appeared from the underside of a bridge a little way up the tracks. He looked like he had been swimming or fishing, though where- I had no idea. Probably in some secret location known only to lifelong residents, keenly aware of what the landscape has to offer, and the many ways in which its changed. When he learned I was a biologist, he proceeded to tell me about all the wildlife that he sees during his various excursions; coyotes, foxes, eagles—but when he got to turtles, his smile faltered, and he lamented the fact that “the Muhlenberg’s have gotten hard to find”. He certainly wasn’t wrong about that.
Plastron length taken using calipers. Photo Credit: Lynn Sambol
Bog turtle habitat is characterized by open canopy, tussock sedges, mucky soils, and slow-moving rivulets.
The bright orange/yellow patches on either side of the head, visible here, are the bog turtle’s most distinguishing characters. Photo Credit: Eric Sambol
Former CWF biologist Allegra Mitchell (right) teaches CWF intern Nicole Bergen (left) and former assistant biologist Meaghan Fogarty (center) how to determine if a female bog turtle is gravid. Photo Credit: Lynn Sambol
Despite early recognition as an endangered species in New Jersey, population estimates for Glyptemys muhlenbergii, more commonly known as the bog turtle, are less than half what they were in 1974 when they were first listed. This is certainly not for lack of trying; conservation-minded groups and individuals have been working hard to reverse this trend for decades. The bog turtle may be North America’s smallest turtle, but ensuring that they stick around to retain the distinction is no small feat. It takes an army, which is why CWF is so excited to be joining forces with New Jersey Audubon, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and US Fish and Wildlife Service in a 5-year Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Through this agreement, funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), part of the USDA, we aim to restore crucial wetlands within the Upper Salem River Watershed, an important stronghold of the species.
CWF biologist Christine Healy (left) and US Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Beth Freiday (right) assess the restoration potential for historic bog turtle habitat through the FWS Partners Program. Photo Credit: Matthew Davis
CWF biologist Christine Healy with two bog turtles notched in northern New Jersey during the 2021 field season. Photo Credit: Jim Angley
Allegra Mitchell (far right) reviews bog turtle data collection with Meaghan Fogarty, Christine Healy, and Nicole Bergen (far left to right). Photo Credit: Lynn Sambol
CWF’s primary role in this collaboration will be landowner outreach. This is critical work because much of the remaining habitat for bog turtles occurs within the boundaries of private property, so landowner participation is vital to the conservation and management of the species. NRCS and FWS offer several programs to make initial restoration work and land preservation in perpetuity both feasible and economical for landowners, however, they aren’t always widely known options. Using satellite imagery and historic records, CWF helps locate parcels with potentially promising habitat and educates interested landowners on the possibilities. We’ve had much success with this method, particularly in northern New Jersey, and look forward to expanding our reach. With the public on board, we are optimistic about the future of our state reptile.
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.
If lucky, I might cross paths with this terrapin in another decade (if it’s a female) and she overcomes the odds and returns to nest here as an adult.
While out inspecting our newly created terrapin habitat enhancement site in Little Egg Harbor, I found several terrapin hatchlings who were traversing the 36″ high pile of sand. I was expecting to see some hatchlings, since many arise from the protection of nest cavities on warm spring days in April, but not on top of our enhancement site. The moment I spotted one of these half dollar sized turtles, I looked into the distance and saw another.
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.
