The Research Team at the Wetlands Institute not only conducts scientific research to increase the survival of the diamondback terrapins in the area. And one of the “other” activities that we do is host terrapin releases throughout the summer.
Terrapin hatchlings that hatched and emerged last summer/fall were sent to the head-starting facility at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (affectionately known as Stockton College). The care taker, John, raises the hatchlings for about 10 months — he takes care of their nutritional needs and makes sure that the hatchlings do not kill each other 
The highlight of all the terrapin releases, especially at the beginning of the summer, was definitely the release by the Avalon/Stone Harbor kindergarteners. Every year, under the guidance and supervision of their teacher, Mrs. Dean, the kindergarteners bake turtle cookies and sell them for a quarter (25 cents) a piece to anybody who would buy them to raise funds for the Wetlands Institute. And because these kids couldn’t really count well, you know how messy it is when it comes to counting their “profits”. And they would then hold hands and run across the street to the bank to deposit the money that they raise
A local bank who serves the Cape May County of New Jersey exclusively, Sturdy Savings Bank, matches dollar-for-dollar the amount that the kindergarteners raise and on top of that, makes a generous donation to the Wetlands Institute as well
On the day of the release, Scute, the terrapin mascot will usually make an appearance to “meet and greet” everybody.
Before the terrapin release, Dr. Roger Wood, the Director of Research usually gives a briefing to the audience about the life history of the diamondback terrapin, the threats to their survival and the projects that are being conducted at the Wetlands Institute. He would then demonstrate to the audience the right way of holding a terrapin so that it does not scratch or bite the person holding it — and he calls this the “turtle handshake”. And because the kids are all so eager to hold a terrapin, everybody pays 100% attention to him
When we’re done with the briefing, each intern will be in charge of one (or more) kindergartener and we will all hold hands and walk towards the dock where the terrapins will be released.
At the dock, once again we emphasize the importance of holding the terrapin in a correct way so that neither the terrapin nor the kid would be hurt in the process. And we line them up along the dock so that they will be able to see how the release is performed.
More pictures taken during the various terrapin releases here:
We believe that these releases are important to educate the public on the importance of helping to conserve the diamondback terrapins. It is very heart-warming to see how some kids become so affectionately attached to the terrapin that they had just “known” in a short hour.
