Hundreds of baby turtles saved from Jersey Shore storm drains
By FOX 5 NY Staff
Published
Baby turtles rescued
Volunteers rescued 826 diamondback terrapin hatchlings from storm drains and turned them over to Stockton University. (By The Associated Press/video from Stockton University)
GALLOWAY, N.J. - Hundreds of diamondback terrapin hatchlings that spent the winter hiding from the cold in subterranean nests only to end up stuck in storm drains along the Jersey Shore are now in the good hands of wildlife experts.
Volunteers rescued 826 tiny turtles from drains in Margate, Ventnor, and Ocean City and turned them over to Stockton University s Head Start program, according to a
More than 800 baby turtles rescued from storm drains in 3 N.J. beach towns
Updated May 06, 2021;
Hundreds of baby turtles have been rescued from storm drains at the Jersey Shore, but they weren’t mutant ninjas.
Over the past few weeks, volunteers scooped 826 diamondback terrapin hatchlings from storm drains in Margate, Ventnor and Ocean City, where they had been hiding from cold temperatures over the winter while surviving off yolk sacs, Stockton University wrote in a Facebook post.
Two volunteers Marlene Galdi and Joanne Freas often help turtles crossing busy roads at the Jersey, but more recently realized the babies are small enough to slip through the cracks of storm drains. The pair spotted the quarter-sized creatures swimming in the drains in Ocean City one day and used a custom scooper from a telescopic aquarium net attached to a bamboo pole to rescue them.
Nearly 830 baby turtles were rescued from storm drains across the Jersey Shore.
The 826 Diamondback terrapin hatchlings had been hiding from the cold winter temps in their nest chambers and recently hatched at the Stockton University vivarium.
Stockton alumna Evelyn Kidd and her friends scooped the turtles from Ventnor and Margate, while Marlene Galdi and Joanne Fres rescued the turtles from Ocean City. When a baby terrapin successfully crawls across the street, they can meet yet another obstacle the curb, the university wrote. Marlene and Joanne regularly look for crossing terrapins to give them a hand.
The women discovered that curbs aren t the only obstacles for the quarter-sized turtles, who are small enough to slip through cracks of storm drains.
800 baby turtles rescued from storm drains in 3 Jersey Shore towns
Posted May 06, 2021
Hundreds of baby turtles have been rescued from storm drains at the Jersey Shore, but they weren’t mutant ninjas.
Over the past few weeks, volunteers scooped 826 diamondback terrapin hatchlings from storm drains in Margate, Ventnor and Ocean City, where they had been hiding from cold temperatures over the winter while surviving off yolk sacs, Stockton University wrote in a Facebook post.
Two volunteers Marlene Galdi and Joanne Freas often help turtles crossing busy roads at the Jersey, but more recently realized the babies are small enough to slip through the cracks of storm drains. The pair spotted the quarter-sized creatures swimming in the drains in Ocean City one day and used a custom scooper from a telescopic aquarium net attached to a bamboo pole to rescue them.