LIVE WEBCAM WITH DIAMOND BACK TERRAPINS

More info: T.E.R.P. is an Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) supplemental classroom program. Northern diamondback terrapins are placed in AACPS classrooms in October and released in May/June of the following year. Students research the natural history of the terrapins, collect weekly growth data, make behavioural observations, and record husbandry protocols. Growth data of the terrapins is also collected during tagging just prior to release on the beaches of Poplar Island in May and June. The terrapins are implanted with a PIT (passive integrated transponder) microchip for identification. Upon recapture in future years, terrapins are scanned for tags and growth data compared to information collected in the classroom.

Through their work of raising and releasing these terrapins, students support important terrapin conservation research, conducted by Dr. Willem Roosenburg, Associate Professor of Biology at Ohio University who is a noted terrapin researcher.

The diamondback terrapin is a species of turtle native to the brackish coastal tidal marshes of the eastern and southern United States, and in Bermuda.

Diamondback terrapins are the official state reptile of Maryland and are found around Chesapeake Bay. The terrapins are predators whose preference for unpolluted saltwater make them indicators of healthy marsh and river systems. In winter, they hibernate underwater in mud. Around late May, diamondback terrapins emerge to mate, nest, and bask in the sun on coastal dunes or narrow sandy beaches.