BALTIMORE, Md.— The Center for Biological Diversity and 20 partner organizations petitioned NOAA Fisheries Sept. 19 to protect diamondback terrapins as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. These animals have declined by 75 percent across most of their range in the past 50 years.
Diamondback terrapins are aquatic turtles that live primarily in coastal marshes and estuaries from Massachusetts to Texas. They have freckled bodies and distinct concentric diamond-shaped patterns on their shells. Adults can live up to 40 years, but only one percent of hatchlings survive to adulthood.
“Tens of thousands of terrapins are drowning in crab traps each year,” said Will Harlan, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Without the lifeline of Endangered Species Act protection, they’ll sink into extinction…