Turtle Gardens

Turtle Gardens are becoming more prevalent throughout Barnegat Bay. Basically, they are mounds of sand to provide terrapins with more nesting opportunities and should decrease road mortality of female terrapins. Thanks to Sandi and Tony Kosinski of LBI, terrapins have an outstanding nesting location at High Bar Harbor. Ben Wurst and the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey developed the largest nest enhancement project to date on Great Bay Boulevard. At Long Beach Island, "Turtle Gardens" show increased terrapin nesting, after completing our first "Turtle Garden" project in 2015 at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences in Loveladies, New Jersey. Working with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, we deposited 15 cubic yards of sand at the LBIF, which attracted four female terrapins to the new nesting location. It led to 35 hatchlings the first year and the second year, in 2016, showed a significantly higher usage by female terrapins for nesting than the first year. You will definitely see more "Turtle Gardens" along the Barnegat Bay shoreline. Thanks to the Barnegat Bay Partnership for their contribution to the first project at the LBIF, the spring board for Turtle Gardens at the Jersey Shore! As an update there have been natural sand accretion in both Mordecai Island and Holgate that are serving as viable "Turtle Gardens".