Community Corner

Diamondback Terrapins: Brackish Water Beauties

Native turtle faces a host of threats from human habitation.

All along the shores of Barnegat Bay and other coastal waters, diamondback terrapin females are venturing out of salt marshes and seeking sandy ground to lay their eggs. It's a great time for us to spot them, but it's also a perilous time for this fascinating reptile.

What it is: The diamondback terrapin is a turtle native to the coastal wetlands of the eastern United States, from Cape Cod down to southern Florida and the Gulf coast.

They’re remarkably beautiful reptiles, with a lot of variation within the species. Their shells are usually olive to light brown and decorated with vaguely diamond-shaped dark brown concentric rings.

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Their skin is typically gray – though it can also be whitish or pale yellow – and patterned with darker gray squiggles and dots, the arrangement of which are unique to each individual. And they have charming upturned mouths that make them look like they’re grinning.

Terrapins aren’t very big, as turtles go. Females can grow to about 7 inches long and weigh a pound and a half; males top out at about 5 inches and half a pound.

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Where to find it: Diamondback terrapins are the only known turtle species that lives exclusively in brackish water.

They cruise shallow bays and coastal marshes, snacking on snails, fiddler crabs, fish, worms and plants. In the winter, they hunker down deep in the tidal muck to hibernate.

Barnegat Bay and its surrounding salt marshes are a critical habitat for the species in New Jersey, and if you take to the waters in a kayak in summer, you might spot one sunning itself or sticking its head just above the surface.

Females also come ashore in summer – June and July – to lay clutches of up to a dozen eggs. The turtles might scramble up to a quarter mile from their marshy habitats to find suitable sandy soil for their nests.

Why bother: The diamondback terrapin is a defining species for coastal habitats like ours, but it's had a rough history when it comes to its interactions with humans.

They were an important food source in colonial America, and people nationwide later developed a taste for terrapin soup. As a result, they were hunted down to near extinction.

Today, they face a different set of threats that continue to make them a species of special concern in New Jersey.

Females’ summertime treks to lay eggs often draw them across roads and into high-traffic areas, making them – and later their tiny hatchlings – highly susceptible to deadly car strikes. They’re also often found drowned in crab traps.

Because this a very long-lived species – up to 40 years – and one that lays relatively small clutches and takes many years to become sexually mature, a high death rate due to a single unfortunately placed local road can decimate a population.

But there are some local efforts to protect the species. The Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, a specialized high school in Stafford Township, leads Project Terrapin, which identifies and protects terrapin nest sites in the Barnegat Bay area.

And the Great Bay Terrapin Project has installed stretches of low fence and “terrapin crossing” signs along a road in Little Egg Harbor to cut down on the number of turtle deaths there.

 

 

 


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