Touching the Earth

This is a Diamondback Terrapin we caught in a trap yesterday. The trap is monitored by teams of volunteers from Earthwatch working under the supervision of Hal Avery, a professor at Drexel University in the US.

The Diamondback is a resilient little creature capable of shifting between saltwater and freshwater, but it’s not so resilient against us. Hundreds are killed every year on the roads and hundreds more are killed or injured in the Barnegat Bay area of the New Jersey shoreline.

The Diamondback has been here for thousands of years and once formed part of the diet of local tribes. The name terrapin derives from a native American word for “edible”.

Today it must share its salt marsh habitat with a local population that owns 300,000 registered power boats, many of which are on the water throughout the summer months when the Diamondback likes to bask in the waves, soaking up the sun.

Sadly it’s not very quick at getting out of the way of power-boats and jet skis. The jet skis in particular invade shallow channels though the marsh grass which is prime Diamondback habitat.But without the Diamondback there wouldn’t be much marsh grass since the snails and periwinkles on which it feeds would have eaten it.

Its breeding habitat is also at risk. The good burgers who run things in the bay area have allowed the construction of bulwarks - wooden barriers – around much of the bay. The bulwarks look neat and tidy but they prevent the terrapins crawling on to land where they sink their nests.

If Hal Avery, his collaborators and his Earthwatch volunteers weren’t here researching the Diamondback and its habitat, the people who have made Barnegat Bay their home would have no idea of the crucial role this animal plays in sustaining their coastal environment. “Some people live here and don’t even know that the Diamondback Terrapin is out there. Some have never seen one,” says Hal.

This kind of ignorance is not unusual, and some people simply don't give a damn. It’s why Earthwatch is engaging thousands of volunteers each year in research on the frontline of environmental study. And it is a front line. There’s a war going on out there and we must win it for the sake of our children and their children.If you help Earthwatch you won’t save the Diamondback alone, but you will become part of a family (part of it pictured below) that is committed to giving the Diamondback and thousands of other threatened species a fighting chance.

What kind of world do you want to leave behind when you’re gone – a playground for jet skis, or a world that respects every other living organism that contributes to the health of our planet? People often ask me what is it that Earthwatch does? Well this is what it does - just one project of many around the world. With Earthwatch you can touch the Earth, not ruin it.