Terrapin Conservation for 2012

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Island Beach State Park Staff trained on June 19, 2012 with John from MATES Project Terrapin.  They helped John to mark animals and to participate in a field activity, collecting terrapins (we captured one).  The Nature Center houses two juvenile terrapins from IBSP for public education that are part of a headstart program through MATES Project Terrapin

                               Staff at Island Beach State Park along with John
                               during terrapin training session.


Thanks to the Garden Club of Long Beach Island for their generous donation of turtle crossing road signs for Barnegat Light and High Bar Harbor, to caution motorists of nesting female terrapins.  Signs were installed in early June 2012. 


                               Turtle crossing sign along Bayview at Barnegat Light Township



Thanks to a generous donation of time and materials from Fernando, an often "overrun" terrapin nesting area was transformed in May 2012 into a terrapin nesting area with reduced human impacts.  Students from the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) Project Terrapin helped to plant dune grass to stabilize soil.  Boulders were added to prevent vehicles from parking and trailering boats across the nesting area.

  A before (left) and after (right) view of the nesting area.  On the right, notice the sand mixed with gravel and tire tracks across the nesting area. On the right, the sand was raked and the site is less accessible by humans, providing nesting female terrapins with less human impacted nesting opportunities.