Diamonds in the rough: Threatened turtles to be safely returned to the wild

A group of three-day old turtles were the guest of honor at a party celebrating their release back into the wild.

A small crowd got together at Briarwood Beach Sunday, Aug. 31 to take a look at three-day-old Diamondback Terrapin turtles that were going to be released back into the wild by the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance.

The terrapins are a threatened species in Massachusetts meaning they are at risk of extinction. Alliance volunteer Pam Silver said last year, the turtles experienced an 89% mortality rate in their nests from a variety of predators like foxes, skunks and birds.

“There’s a high predation rate for these guys once they lay their eggs,” Silver said.

Beginning in June when the terrapins start laying their eggs in beaches and mudbanks, the Middleboro based marine animal advocacy organization will scour beaches in the South Coast looking for nests to protect the animals.

“We put a plastic netting down to prevent any kind of predation and that typically does a pretty good job,” she said.

Over the years Briarwood Beach has become a popular nesting spot for the terrapins with 126 recorded nests last year. In order to help protect the terrapins, Silver said a nesting area on the beach has been set up.

“It’s kind of like a turtle garden at the end of the beach where we can put the netting down and protect them until they’re ready to hatch,” she said.

Once ready to be released, the alliance likes to throw parties to not only celebrate the terrapins survival but to also educate people on the threatened reptiles.

“There’s people here who are all jazzed up about it and they’re going to be on the lookout for [terrapins] in the future,” she said.

This party also had a special guest. Brian Woodard lives just off the river and caught an adult Diamondback Terrapin while crabbing.

“We use open, collapsible traps so the crabs and turtles can come in and out and this turtle happened to be in there when we pulled it out,” Woodard said.

He added a turtle will make its way into his crab traps about once a month and he has helped the alliance record about a dozen terrapins.

“I have grandkids and they love doing this and they love the turtle scientists coming to the house,” he said. “They come and they all sit and measure the turtle and my grandkids are enthralled by it.”

While the parties celebrate the terrapins release, Silver said they will be released later that day because it gives them a better chance at survival.

“I’ll release them into the mudbanks and they’ll live there for a couple of years eating bugs and stuff like that,” she said. “Eventually they will get bigger and find their way to the river.”