Are you interested in helping young diamondback terrapins? Join The Wetlands Institute staff and dedicated volunteers in an effort to rescue baby terrapins that have fallen into local storm drains.
Many newly hatched terrapins fall into storm drains every spring and fall as they make their way to the salt marsh after hatching from their nests. This spring volunteers rescued 645 babies from Wildwood Crest and Sea Isle City storm drains!
Volunteers help The Wetlands Institute by expanding the range and number of storm drains that are checked through our Terrapin Storm Drain Rescue Project. To contribute, all you’ll need is good eye sight and an extended net to free terrapins from the drains. The process is simple too. You can check drains at a monitoring location and on a schedule convenient to you. We just require that you fill out and submit datasheets so we are able to identify and target storm drains that prevalently have high numbers of trapped hatchlings.
If you are interested in rescuing hatchling terrapins from storm drains in the South Jersey area, please come join The Wetlands Institute for a Terrapin Storm Drain Rescue Workshop on Tuesday September 10, 2013 at 6:00pm. This hour-long workshop will provide you with a background on our storm drain rescue efforts, teach you how to monitor storm drains, provide you with training necessary to utilize our datasheets, and supply you with the equipment needed to rescue a terrapin from a storm drain.
To register for this workshop, please e-mail Katie Sellers at ksellers@wetlandsinstitute.org with your name and number of people in attendance by Friday September 6, 2013.