Terrapins are dying... But we can save them.

Hey there- thank you for clicking and being interested in our article concerning terrapin turtles and the major declines their population is facing. In this article we go over the facts and how we, as freshmen in high school, and you can help these little guys get off the endangered species list.

Terrapin turtles are facing a massive decline and since 2004, over 10,000 diamondback terrapin turtles have been killed in New Jersey alone. These deaths are cause by us humans not being cautious enough on beach side roads. The thing is, terrapin road mortality can easily be avoided. Road mortalities have had a major fluctuation on the terrapin population. Terrapins are considered endangered in many states of the US. Road mortality is especially present near coastal towns and near beaches in New Jersey.

Concerning road mortalities, female terrapins are the ones who die most often because they have to cross major roads to get to nesting grounds. They need to get to nesting beaches to lay their eggs. Nesting sites are usually salt marshes, located across from the ocean. Females usually carry around 25 eggs. If she is hit, her and the 25 eggs are killed. When female terrapins gets hit, it prevents the population from increasing because they are the only one who can lay eggs. Terrapins are usually hit when the roads are most busy, such as the early mornings in the day or later into the evening. These times correspond to the times of high tide which is when female terrapins lay their eggs. With the human population increasing, companies feel the need to build more roads. The need for roads has caused contractors to destroy and build over nesting beaches. If the female terrapin reaches the nesting ground and it is under construction, they can’t nest there, so they then have to recross the road. This is not only an issue for the terrapin mothers, but for their children. Out of the young who's mother can safely lay her eggs, only 1-3% of their offspring will survive and make it to adulthood.

To help save the terrapin turtles, we are raising money to buy a road sign that reads “TERRAPIN CROSSING”. We are exposing the truth on the massive decline in the terrapin population. Approximately 1,500 terrapins die due to road mortalities in New Jersey alone.

Next is a link to our fundraiser project on Teespring to help fund this project. In order to help us with the placing of the sign, we contacted Conserve Wildlife Foundation NJ who aided us and gave us the help of their scientist. We will be donating a street sign to Conserve Wildlife Foundation NJ, and any of the remaining proceeds will be given to them as charity. They are doing everything in their range to help aid the turtles and protect them and that is why we see them as a good fit for our project. We would like to give back to nature and protect its many vulnerable elements of living creatures.

Please help us achieve this goal by purchasing one of our shirts off of teespring

This design is available in crewnecks, long sleeve tee shirts, and stickers.

There are many different color options

https://teespring.com/save-the-terrapin#pid=345&cid=6363&sid=back

This is an example of the long sleeve tee shirt style in blue

By 3 Students at Hillsborough High School