SANIBEL, Fla. — Diamondback terrapins in Southwest Florida are facing serious threats to their survival, including habitat loss, water pollution, poaching for the pet trade, and accidental drownings in blue crab traps.
The Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) is working to protect these imperiled turtles through a tagging program that tracks their movements and habitat use.
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SCCF say they're collecting vital data on these unique turtles to develop more effective conservation strategies.
"Where they are moving, there home ranges, what type of habitat they are using, as well as where they could be potentially nesting," said Wildlife Technican Nadine Cobb.
She says one of the most significant dangers to terrapins comes from blue crab traps, which the turtles enter but often cannot escape.
"Unfortunately, the bait that the blue crabs like, the terrapins also like," Cobb explained.
The timing of trap checks poses a serious problem for the air-breathing reptiles.
"These traps are only checked every six to 36 hours, and the terrapins need to breathe air a little more frequently than that," Cobb said.
Even more concerning, Cobb says, are the abandoned or lost traps remaining in the water indefinitely.
"They aren't getting checked at all. No one knows where they are, or they are abandoned, and they don't care to know where they are. There have been reports of 50 plus terrapins dead inside of those traps," Cobb said.
While recreational crab pots are already required to have bycatch reduction devices, SCCF is advocating for similar requirements on commercial pots.
"They are these small plastic or metal that you put right on the opening of your crab traps, it kind of shrinks that opening so that a large adult female terrapin or large adult male wouldn't be able to enter," Cobb explained.
According to SCCF, these devices can protect 73% of terrapins from entering the traps without reducing blue crab catch rates. The organization offers these devices for free to anyone who reaches out.
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