To Track a Terrapin: Researching the Movements and Habits of Our Reptilian Neighbors by
If you frequent shore communities of southern New Jersey in the summer months, you have likely seen a northern diamondback terrapin, either a hatchling scrambling to the nearest vegetation, a female hastily crossing a road to nest, or a smaller-bodied male basking on the bank of a tidal creek. These reptiles are uniquely adapted for an existence in brackish water. No other reptile in our region, and no other turtle in North America, is capable of lifetime residence in saltmarshes. Not only are these turtles a unique part of our local biodiversity, but they are an extremely important species in saltmarsh ecosystems. Studies suggest terrapins may keep populations of marsh grazers in check, helping ensure the continued health of saltmarshes.
Unfortunately, this species faces growing threats to their continued existence. Countless terrapins drown each year as bycatch in enclosed crab pots, and impacts from this often unseen threat have led to local declines and population collapse in parts of their range. The loss of terrapins from bycatch is particularly high along the Delaware Bay, but little is known about these terrapin populations. Coastal development and sea level rise impact terrapin habitat throughout the state, and remaining nesting habitat is often near roadways, leading to road mortality. Recently, artificial nesting habitats have been constructed using clean dredged material. They are more resilient to sea level rise and farther from roadways, but questions about their effectiveness
Brian Williamson, Research Scientist
remain. Additionally, information about where terrapins brumate (the reptilian equivalent of hibernation) is poorly understood. Resolving uncertainties in our knowledge of terrapin movements and habitat preferences will help us continue to support best practices for terrapin conservation and further guide restoration efforts.
To help answer some of these questions, we received funding from the Wildlife Management Institute’s Northeast Regional Conservation Needs grant program to track terrapin movements for two years along the Delaware Bay shore and in saltmarshes near Seven Mile Island. For this project, we will be using cellular GPS transmitters, which collect GPS points and transmit them remotely via cell signal, and hope to learn about terrapin movements in these difficult to reach locations.
Along the Delaware Bay shore we are seeking to understand how terrapins use habitat to inform management decisions related to crabbing and bycatch issues. We hope to learn how far terrapins move into the bay and tidal creeks, where they nest and brumate, and the seasonality of movements so that we can understand the potential overlap of crab fishing activity and terrapin habitat use. Our work will begin to fill a long-standing gap in the scientific community’s knowledge of terrapins in New Jersey and help ensure these populations can persist and coexist with New Jersey’s important blue crab fishery.
Near Seven Mile Island, significant restoration work to increase marsh resilience to sea level rise is ongoing. Elevated nesting habitats have been constructed in this area using dredged material and GPS telemetry will allow us to monitor how terrapins are using them, informing planned restoration of marsh
habitat by allowing us to understand where in the marsh terrapins prefer to spend their time and how they use restored areas. Finally, understanding how and where terrapins brumate will help us identify any potential risks of restoration activity on overwintering terrapins and help scientists maximize the benefits of marsh restoration to diamondback terrapins.
We are excited to conduct cutting-edge research on such an iconic and important species, but you can help terrapins too. You can protect terrapins by carefully and safely crossing terrapins found on roadways in the direction they are headed, placing any hatchlings found in the open in the nearest tall vegetation so they can hide from predators, never taking terrapins from the wild as pets, checking your crab traps regularly, and using bycatch reduction devices. If you have questions or you would like to volunteer, please contact The Wetlands Institute to learn how you can help our reptilian neighbors.
Partial funding for this program is supported by a grant/cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. The grant and associated conservation activities are done to support implementation of a priority action of the State Wildlife Action Plans from members of the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. All work is done by trained staff under permits from NJ Fish & Wildlife, with the utmost concern for the safety and wellbeing of the terrapins.
Deborah A. Hays, Chair
James Donohue, Vice-Chair
Hank Schellenger, Treasurer
Annie Ulichney, Secretary
Jeffrey Alderton
Timothy Jon Clay
John Flynn
William Hankowsky
Margaret McAllister
John Millar
Staff
Leadership
Jeannie Morris
Jon Tullis
Amy Welsh
William Wermuth
Francis J. White III
Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director
Anne Brickley, Director of Administration
Dr. Lisa Ferguson, Director of Research and Conservation
Brooke Knapick, Director of Educational Program Development
Carol Wyland, Director of Finance
Research & Conservation
Julie Blum, Research Scientist
Samantha Collins, Research Scientist
Meghan Kolk, Conservation Scientist
Amanda Lyons, Research & Conservation Coordinator
Brian Williamson, Research Scientist Education
Danielle Meeker, Aquarist/ Environmental Educator
Kelianne O'Shea, Environmental Educator
Erin Rawls, Outreach Coordinator
Development & Communications
Devin Griffiths, Marketing and Communications Specialist Finance
Terrie Campbell, Finance Administrator
Christine Whaley, Finance Analyst Administration
Kirsten Chervenak, Visitor Services Coordinator
Kimberly Dmytro, Tidepool Shop Manager
Michael Fridmann, Facilities Manager
Visit Us
Hours: May 20 - September 15, open daily 9:30 to 4:30.
General Admission: Members: Free. Non-members: $12 Adults, $10 Children 4-12.
Marsh M usings
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director Ah
summer. That magical time when we all embrace the beloved coastal way of life. Seems to take too long to arrive and then end too soon. It’s a great reminder to savor the moments that make it so special.
For all of us at The Wetlands Institute, it’s a very busy time of year, but it’s also one we relish for the richness of the experiences we all enjoy. The interns are here and have injected their youthful energy and outlook. They are like sponges; they absorb all there is to learn but also infuse in all of us the wonder of this magical place. Everyday, school buses arrive with hundreds of wide-eyed children ready for their exploration and discovery. Soon, the Summer Nature Programs begin. The beach stewards are out on Stone Harbor Point and the 2-Mile Unit of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, protecting sensitive beach nesting birds and educating the public in the ways we can share the resource with them. And of course, so many of you come for a visit to reconnect with the marsh wonderland and all of the special creatures that make this place their home.
This year is also a special year for us. We have begun planning for the future of The Wetlands Institute and working to implement measures to help enhance our resilience. I have frequently written about both the marsh response to rapidly rising seas and the work of The Seven Mile Island Innovation Laboratory. This fall, we will be bringing
a marsh rehabilitation project home to the marshes adjacent to TWI. This project will be highly visible and will afford us wonderful opportunities to share our work directly with you, and also with natural resource managers and municipalities that are striving to benefit from the coastal resilience marsh restoration affords us all. Check out the article about the project later in the newsletter.
I am also pleased to report that we are planning to improve the Salt Marsh Trail. The trail provides access to the dock and walkway and is part of the exploration of the marsh and back bay ecosystem for education programs and visitors. It’s also very important for nesting diamondback terrapins. The increasing frequency of nuisance sunny day flooding is impacting our ability to utilize the trail. Working with partners at NJDEP, we are designing a project to elevate the Salt Marsh Trail and improve visitor amenities. In keeping with our mission, we also seek to enhance diamondback terrapin nesting by creating more nesting areas and also building up a portion of the marsh around the tree island near the boat house to improve habitat for marsh-dependent birds.
Stop by for a visit, join us for presentations about the exciting changes coming to the Institute, and be a part of it all. Look for more information on all of these projects in the future.
Views From the Tower is the quarterly newsletter of The Wetlands Institute and can also
ecosystems. Founded in 1969 by Herbert Mills, Executive Director of the World Wildlife Fund.
Mother Knows Best
by Ray Burke, Wetlands Institute Supporter
Growing up on a farm bordering Jenkins Sound, my earliest memories included family adventures into the marshes and tidal creeks between the mainland and Seven Mile Beach. There was, however, one particular event that forever directed my attention to Ospreys inhabiting the marsh.
The
In 1963 my parents became acquainted with Stephen W. Meader, a local author. He had written a series of adventure stories for young readers, one of the most successful of which was The Fish Hawk’s Nest published in 1952. The story takes place on a 19th century Cape May County farm situated on Jenkin’s Sound. The protagonist is a young man whose family appreciates the beauty and natural bounty of the area where they reside.
My mother, who was always an avid reader, evidently decided that it was time for her nine-year-old son to tackle a fullfledged adventure novel. She drove me to Stephen Meader’s home where the author presented me with a signed copy of the book along with a commentary about how lucky I was to live where I lived. I am certain that I accepted my special gift with some degree of trepidation, but as I cracked open the cover and began reading I became totally captivated by his descriptions of Cape May County’s natural environment. It was my first experience with a book I could not put down.
It would be more than a decade later that, while tending my oyster beds in Gravelly Run Stream, I would glance off into the distance and notice the construction of a building seemingly rising out of the surrounding marsh. Little did I suspect that events at that location would nurture my tidelands fascination for the next fifty years.
As the decades have unfolded I have always celebrated the annual arrival of yellow school busses full of children getting their first sightings of hatchling turtles and, of course, a Fish Hawk on its nest. I watch the educational staff engaging visitors of every age in hopes of lighting a spark of appreciation for the environmental treasure that is The Wetlands Institute. It is a wonderful thing to behold.
Thanks Mom!
The Wetlands Institute is truly a gateway to discovering the wonders of the marsh and is essential to its restoration.
Marshketeers Notch Another Victory... for the Birds
by Devin Griffiths, Marketing & Communications Specialist
Saturday, May 11, 3:00 AM. It’s deja vu all over again as The Marshketeers – our unstoppable band of birders –set out hours ahead of the sun for the NJ Audubon World Series of Birding, a 24-hour birding marathon in the name of conservation.
We catch the first birds of the day along a quiet salt marsh in the northern reaches of Cape May county – a Chuck-Will’s-Widow insistenly calling its name and the low, distant hooting of a Great Horned Owl –and then we’re off. Over the next 24 hours we’ll visit forests and fields, marshes and meadows, beaches and backroads, in hopeful pursuit of the thing(s) with feathers.
For the first time in many years, the weather cooperated and the gnats were merciful, and the team enjoyed
a pain-free (though still exhausting) time seeking out birds and raising critical funds for conservation. By day’s end, exhilarated and weary, we’d spotted 146 species (including 2024’s Bonus Bird, the Clapper Rail) – and, through an outpouring of support, smashed our fundraising goal, bringing in more than $11,000 for the Institute’s coastal bird research and conservation work.
As the sun began it’s inexorable dip below the horizon, we hung up our binoculars for the day, secure in the knowledge that The Marshketeers and all who’d supported the team had notched another win for conservation and for all who find joy in the company of these incredible creatures – and had once again made a real difference for the birds.
The 2024 Marshketeers scouring the skies for elusive avians. L to R: Melissa Lafferty, Lenore Tedesco, Chris Dolan, and Devin Griffiths.
Bonus Bird: Clapper Rail
Common Yellowthroat
The Shorebird Steward Program: An Essential Component of
Shorebird Conservation
by
Meghan Kolk,
Shorebirds face a multitude of threats that are outside of our control, but human disturbance is one factor that we can reduce. With ever-growing demands on our beaches, there are fewer spaces for shorebirds and seabirds that depend on the beaches year-round to feed, rest, and raise their families. Many of the birds that rely on our New Jersey beaches are threatened or endangered species, meaning their populations have declined to dangerous levels. Everyday recreational activities on the beach that may seem harmless can unintentionally harm these birds.
The mission of our Shorebird Steward Program is to reduce recreational disturbance at two beaches in Cape May County that provide critical habitat for beach-nesting birds and migratory shorebirds – Stone Harbor Point Conservation Area and the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge Two Mile Beach Unit. Each summer, stewards interact with beachgoers to interpret educational information about shorebird conservation, beach closures and regulations, and how human behaviors impact the birds. Stewards carefully observe and document disturbance
Conservation
Scientist
events so we can better understand how people use the beach, how they comply with regulations, how their activities impact the birds, and which issues we need to focus on resolving. When possible, stewards intervene and engage with visitors when a disturbance event is observed to reduce the impact and provide education so that behaviors may be altered in the future.
Last season, stewards focused their efforts on curtailing the amount of disturbance from landed watercraft to a very important breeding colony of endangered Black Skimmers at the tip of Stone Harbor Point. Their efforts paid off as the colony, one of just a few in New Jersey, thrived and was able to produce young after a disappointing failure to breed the previous year. Stewards play an integral role in shorebird conservation by educating the public, gathering valuable data, protecting undisturbed spaces for shorebirds, and ultimately contributing to the breeding success of beach-nesting birds.
If you’d like to learn more about the birds at Stone Harbor Point, stop by and ask a steward.
Coastal Conservation Research Program Environmental Education Program
Just in time for the summer field season, we’ve welcomed five 2024 CCRP interns to join our Research and Conservation department for a 10-week adventure, conducting independent research projects and contributing to our studies on diamondback terrapins and coastal birds. We are excited to have two interns returning for a second summer with us. Please join us in welcoming:
Abigail Hemric, Catawba College
Logan Stewart, University of Delaware
Mary Castellani, Rutgers University
Darby Brant, Stockton University (2nd year intern)
Kaycee Doherty, Catawba College (2nd year intern)
Our Environmental Education Interns are spending 12 weeks leading public education programs and designing their own independent projects, all while immersing themselves in the unique environment of the surrounding saltmarsh and barrier islands. Jumping in with both feet first, they look forward to meeting you:
Emily Cook, Bucknell University
Kaelin Drey, Stockton University
Paige Jarocki, University of Delaware
Gregory Maccarone, Rowan University
Mark your calendars and join us to see the results of their summer projects at The Wetlands Institute’s Annual Intern Symposium on July
Summer Happenings
The Wetlands Institute will be open daily from 9:30am-4:30pm with all-day activities from June 17-September 2, 2024! Unless otherwise stated, all activities are free with admission and occur onsite at The Wetlands Institute. For more information, visit wetlandsinstitute.org/events.
Exploration Point 9:30 AM Monday
Bring your buckets! Meet at the trailhead at 122nd Street in Stone Harbor and explore Stone Harbor Point for awesome seashells, cool birds, and fun things that live under the sand. Suggested $3 donation to The Wetlands Institute.
Horseshoe Crab Mania Thursday
Thursdays are for the Horseshoe Crabs! Meet these ancient animals up-close during our Creature Feature presentations, make horseshoe crab take-home crafts, and join us for a special horseshoe crab hatchling release during our noon Salt Marsh Safari.
During this live animal presentation, get up close and personal with turtles, fish, crabs, sea stars and urchins, mollusks, horseshoe crabs, or the popular animals of Finding Nemo.
Get your feet wet (or wear waders!) as you discover what swims in the back bays. Help us drag a seine net through the water to find crabs, shrimp, fish and more. Catch o’ the Day
Salt Marsh Safari
Watch our award-winning film, Secrets of the Salt Marsh, then join us for an interpretive marsh walk along our elevated walkway and onto the dock overlooking Scotch Bonnet creek!
Totally Turtle Tuesday
11 AM - 4 PM Tuesday
Every Tuesday is a day with the turtles! Meet them up-close at our Turtle Basking Station, learn about our latest research during our Creature Feature presentations, make unique turtle crafts, and join us for a special terrapin release during our noon Salt Marsh Safari.
Go fishing! We’ll teach you how to bait a hook, cast a line, catch a fish and reel it in. We’ve even got fishing poles and bait. Hooked on Fishing
Seashell Sunday 10 AM Sunday
Seashells at the seashore! Join us to learn all about seashells, how to collect them without harming the environment, and touch an assortment of live mollusks and cool artifacts.
Drop a line in the water and see what pinches it! We’ll provide the bait and handlines - You reel in the blue crabs! Crabbing at the Dock
Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary Tour
Meet us at Egret Espy Trail, 2nd Avenue Entrance in Stone Harbor, for a guided natural history and wildlife tour of the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. Bring your binoculars in case we spot a few of our feathered friends along the way! Free to attend and generously sponsored by the Borough of Stone Harbor.
Help us feed the local marine life! We will open up feeding three times each week so you can see the burrfish eating crabs and the horseshoe crab gobbling shrimp.
Dune and Beach Walk 9:30 AM Wednesday
Meet at 48th Street and Dune Drive in Avalon for an interpretive walk along the maritime forest and dune trails to learn about the flora and fauna that call this area their home. Free to attend and generously sponsored by Avalon Free Public Library.
Enjoy a virtual visit to The Wetlands Institute anytime and anywhere by visiting the Aquarium Bytes section of our Virtual Wetlands Experience portal on our website: wetlandsinstitute.org/ aquarium-bytes.
Raising up Our Marshes to Ensure Their Survival
by Dr. Lenore Tedesco, Executive Director
Coastal marshes, tidal creeks, and bays are the cradle of life. They host a phenomenal diversity of wildlife; are nursery grounds for fish and shellfish; are home to myriad wildlife that rely on them for food, nesting, and resting; are crucial to coastal resilience, offering protection against damage to property and infrastructure and reducing loss of life during storm surge and flooding. They are majestic, calming, and beautiful.
Sadly, our marshes are at a tipping point and are beginning to drown. The biggest threat our wetlands, coastal ecosystems, and coastal communities face are rising seas driven by climate change. Rapidly rising seas have shifted the delicate balance between our marshes and the life-sustaining tidal waters they need. Tidal marshes flourish on the brink –daily to intermittent flooding brings life; repetitive deep flooding systematically destroys life. If you spend much time at the shore, you have seen it for yourself –our marshes underwater at a frequency that is alarming. Local tidal marshes are inundated more frequently and to greater depths than ever before and it’s taking a toll. This winter and spring was particularly dramatic.
The Wetlands Institute scientists, along with our colleagues from the US Army Corps of Engineers, NJDEP, and five universities, are diligently evaluating and monitoring these marshes to understand how rapidly rising seas are degrading
them and affecting the wildlife that depends on them. We have determined that the marshes at The Wetlands Institute are drowning, and shown that what were lush meadows of unbroken grasses only a few years ago are changing to mudflats and open water pools right before our eyes.
The projects of the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab have been developing the tools and techniques to save drowning marshes. We have the experience and knowledge from eight projects we have implemented to enhance more than 85 acres of marsh so far. New Jersey is now a national leader in marsh restoration using tools developed right here. It’s in our nature to respond, and we are!
Thankfully, we are now moving from evaluation to action for our marshes this fall. We are bringing a much-needed project home to the marshes at The Wetlands Institute and the adjacent Cape May Coastal Wetlands Wildlife Management Area, managed by NJDEP. Our goal is to elevate roughly 10 acres of marsh so that it has the appropriate balance with life-giving tides to ensure
that the core of our laboratory and classroom – and the marshes you love to visit and explore – are healthy and vibrant for decades to come.
The project is a beneficial use of dredged material project of our partners in the Philadelphia District of the US Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with NJDEP and TWI. The materials to elevate the marsh will come from maintenance dredging to improve navigation in the NJ Intracoastal Waterway in the vicinity of Nummy Island. The material has been tested and confirmed to be free of contaminants and is a mixture of fine sand and mud that creates a favorable substrate for marsh rehabilitation. The channel dredging will use hydraulic cutter-head dredging techniques and pump the sand and mud slurry though a floating pipeline to the marshes adjacent to TWI where it will be sprayed onto the marsh surface.
The mixture will contain a high percentage of water that will move across the marsh surface, distributing the sand and mud over a wide area. We will use 100% biodegradable coconut-fiber “logs” to create partially contained areas
A. Marsh under ideal conditions. Blue lines are tide flooding levels - dark blue is daily tidal flooding, light blue is intermittent flooding (spring and storm tides).
B. Current marsh flooding scenario. Repetitive flooding is too frequent and too high, stifling healthy marsh growth and leading to marsh drowning.
C. Elevated marsh surface using clean dredged sediment to raise marsh elevation to ideal tidal flooding levels. Initially this creates a short-term impact to the marsh grasses, resulting in a temporary muddy surface.
D. Rehabilitated marsh 2-3 years post placement. Marsh level is at suitable elevation for tidal flooding, promoting marsh grass recovery and healthy marsh function.
A. Healthy marsh
B. Drowning marsh
C. Newly elevated marsh
D. Rehabilitated marsh
to help settle out the sand and mud to build elevation in the most vulnerable areas of the marsh, while also directing the materials away from areas that we know are important to diamondback terrapins. The project timing in later fall is positioned at a time when there are much lower levels of wildlife usage of the marsh to help minimize short-term impacts from the project, while maximizing the long-term benefits.
We expect to place roughly 25,000 cubic yards of material on the marsh surface to elevate roughly 10 acres of marsh by about two feet. The project location is in an area called Scotch Bonnet Island, just south of Stone Harbor Boulevard and just west of The Wetlands Institute. It will be visible from the Institute and the roadway. We are expecting the project to take roughly 6-8 weeks and then settle out and stabilize over the winter prior to the return of wildlife in the spring.
Our experience at the other beneficial use projects we have completed has shown that the resultant barren mud surface will cover over the marsh grasses and that it typically will take two growing seasons before we see new marsh grasses growing back over the muddy surface. We have found that there is plenty of marsh grass seed available and that planting has not been effective, nor has it accelerated the marsh recovery time. For this reason, we will be letting the natural processes work their magic. There will be different usage of the marsh areas during this recovery time. For example, we have seen gulls loafing and feeding on the higher marsh surfaces created by the projects, that is then followed by nesting attempts by some of the early adopters that include American Oystercatchers. Importantly, we have seen the resultant higher marsh areas serve as important refugia for birds of all types during storm flooding of the marsh.
... and Tales
If you love natural history and a good story, we’ve got a selection of tales sure to inspire, amaze, and fire the imagination. These fantastic books capture the true spirit of nature, and speak volumes about the wonders of the world around us.
Whales
A very large group of scientists and engineers have been working at Scotch Bonnet Island for the past several years to document wildlife usage and marsh structure and function. We have been diligent in planning and designing this project and have a commitment to monitoring and managing the site to ensure the best possible outcomes. This is one of the most intensely studied projects anywhere. The project will provide important opportunities for natural resource managers, local municipalities, and state and federal partners to see firsthand how clean dredged materials can be used to rehabilitate drowning marshes. We are thankful to our funding partners that have supported the intensive work, and the donors that are enabling the work to continue into the future. They include the NJ Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, Wiseman Family, Ward Family, Leff Family Foundation, and Virginia F.C. Batchelder Foundation.
The Tidepool Shop features a collection of unique gifts and books inspired by these gentle giants of the deep. Dive in and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of whales!
Summer on the Water
Back Bay Birding and Wildlife Tours
Board The Skimmer to cruise the beautiful back bays of Stone Harbor. Highlights include bird watching, salt marsh wildlife viewing, and marine life touch tanks. Trips depart weekly, Tuesday through Thursday, with both daytime and evening tours available. Call 609-884-3100 for reservations or book online at skimmer.com.
Back Bay Kayaking
Kayaking has become a very popular way to explore the marsh. Join us Monday through Friday, day or evening, for a guided kayak tour of the coastal marsh ecosystem in a single or tandem kayak. Call 609-368-1211 for reservations.
Reservations required for all activities. Please check our website for complete schedule and pricing. Unless otherwise stated, all activities leave from The Wetlands Institute dock.
Sturgeon Island immediately following placement of clean dredge material to raise marsh elevation.
Sturgeon Island two years post-placement. Marsh surface is now at suitable elevation, and marsh grass has largely reestablished.
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~ As a conservation organization, we have a special responsibility to address the global challenges of climate change and sustainability. We are committed to minimizing environmental impacts in all aspects of our operations. Visit our website at wetlandsinstitute.org/about-us/ sustainability/ for more on our sustainability initiatives.
