Wildlife News Archives - Page 7 of 40 - Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ

CWF In The News: WOBM 92.7 highlights Great Bay turtle garden

Posted on December 7, 2020April 2, 2022 by CWF

*A female terrapin pauses while crossing Great Bay Blvd in Little Egg Harbor, NJ.*

Shawn Michaels from WOBM News 92.7 recently visited the Conserve Wildlife Foundation and New Jersey Fish & Wildlife managed Great Bay Terrapin Habitat Enhancement Project and took the time to share his thoughts and some pictures from his visit.

Thank you Shawn for spreading information about our project and sharing these wonderful photos of the turtle garden!

You can read an except from the article below.

If you live here at the Jersey Shore then there is a good chance you have seen a turtle or two trying to cross the road. This project ”turtle gardens” is located on the bay in Little Egg Harbor Township on Seven Bridges Road. The purpose is to give area turtles a place to lay eggs that’s out of harm’s way.

This is a fantastic project to help turtles which often are hit by cars trying to find areas to lay eggs. You may have seen signs around the Jersey Shore ”turtle crossing” to alert you to watch for turtles on area roadways usually late spring through summer.

Click here to read more: This is a fantastic project the ”Turtle Garden”

Part 1: An Eagle Nest Removed

Posted on November 23, 2020April 4, 2022 by larissasmith

by Larissa Smith, CWF Biologist

April 21, 2020, Three Bridges adult with 2 chicks@ Daniel Kroon

The following was written by NJ Eagle Project volunteer, Daniel Kroon. He monitors this nest along with several other dedicated volunteers whose photos are featured in this blog.

The Three Bridges (Hunterdon County) eagle nest is located on the top arm of an electric transmission tower. This pair has successfully nested on the tower for the past five years. This line of towers is scheduled to be replaced with new monopoles and the work on it has recently begun. PSE&G is cooperating with the NJ Bald Eagle program to move this nest to a new pole platform. Unfortunately, the pair is already on territory and have been observed bringing a stick to the old nest. It is an interesting story of how these eagles are adapting to the human-created environment and how we are trying to accommodate them.

The pair at nest October 17, 2020 before work begins @ Mary Ellen Hill

On November 4, PSE&G removed the top of the tower, keeping the nest intact, and lowered it to the ground where they carefully removed the nest from the tower structure. The nest is stored in a shed and will be re-installed on a platform affixed to the new tower when it is erected. We hope the eagle pair accept their remodeled home.

The evening of the nest removal, volunteer Mary Ellen Hill observed the pair sitting together on the adjacent tower.

November 4th, 2020, pair on adjacent tower after nest removal@ Mary Ellen Hill

We will follow up with part two of this story once the new monopole tower is installed and the nest is placed back up on the platform. We thank all the nest monitors, PSE&G and everyone involved to make this as successful as possible.

New Nest Platform For The Three Bridges Eagles Download

Another Dead Humpback Whale Was Found Floating Off the Jersey Shore

Posted on November 19, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

Guest Blog by Joe Reynolds, Save Coastal Wildlife

*A beached humpback whale, found on the bay side of the inlet just across the Townsends Inlet Bridge. Photo by Seven Mile Times.*

On Thursday, November 5, 2020, a 20-25 foot juvenile humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) was found dead floating near a sandbar in Townsends Inlet in Cape May County, New Jersey. The large mammal had apparently been dead for several days. It was first spotted around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.

This tragic event follows even more heartbreaking news about Right Whales, the most endangered large whale species in the world!

We are very sad by the announcement by researchers at the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium that the estimated number of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) remaining in the world is just 356, not 400 as previously thought. It is truly upsetting news. The population continues to be in decline, and the decline is accelerating.

ABC Action News: Horseshoe crabs play key role in race for COVID-19 vaccine

Posted on October 3, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

by Walter Perez

Horseshoe crab blood is hypersensitive to dangerous bacteria that can develop in injectable medicines and vaccines.

In the race for a vaccine for COVID-19, horseshoe crabs – a New Jersey coastal fixture both now and eons ago in the days before the dinosaurs – may play a vital role.

This video story by ABC Action News features CWF Executive Director David Wheeler and top shorebird scientist Dr. Larry Niles in telling this science fiction-like tale.

Watch the video & read more on 6abc.com.

NorthJersey.com: How NJ’s horseshoe crabs are key to a COVID-19 vaccine

Posted on September 30, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

by Scott Fallon, NorthJersey.com

Horseshoe crabs spawning at Thompsons Beach in May 2015. Photo by Joe Smith.

Perhaps the most remarkable creature to call the waters off New Jersey home is older than the dinosaurs, helps balance the state’s ecosystem and looks like it crept out of the “Aliens” movie franchise.

Now the horseshoe crab is playing a vital role in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, with billions of doses expected to be produced worldwide over the next several years.

“It’s absolutely worthwhile for horseshoe crabs to be used in the development of a vaccine,” said David Wheeler, executive director of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. “They play an extraordinary role in public health. But they are irreplaceable in New Jersey and Delaware for how they keep the bird population alive.”

Click here to continue reading.

CWF In The News: Conserve Wildlife Foundation Reports Turtle Garden Success

Posted on September 18, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

by Ethan Gilardi

A rehabilitated adult female northern diamondback terrapin that was released in late 2009 after being injured by a motor vehicle along Great Bay Blvd. © Ben Wurst

Northern Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin terrapin) are a native species of New Jersey turtle, inhabiting the brackish waters of the state’s coastal salt marshes and estuaries. The survival of the species depends on the ability of female turtles to access safe nesting habitat every summer, a struggle for the species these days with roadways disconnecting large swaths of their habitat. To help give females a better chance of successfully reproducing, CWF partnered with New Jersey Division of Fish & Wildlife last year to create a half-acre “turtle garden” at a former marina within the Great Bay Wildlife Management Area.

CWF Habitat Manager Ben Wurst took Pat Johnson of TheSandpaper.net to the site recently to survey the success of this new turtle garden and walk through what it takes to save a species like the diamondback terrapin.

Check out the except below!

It’s diamondback terrapin hatching season in the newest turtle garden established by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey in the Great Bay Wildlife Management Area. Project Manager Ben Wurst has been monitoring the 50 or so nests that were created this spring to protect them from predators so the hatchlings could have a fighting chance of survival.

Senate Passes Bateman License Plate Bill to Protect Pollinators

Posted on September 7, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

by Ethan Gilardi

*Double pollination! Image by Krzysztof Niewolny from Pixabay.*

New Jersey’s State Senate passed legislation this past August authorizing the creation of “Protect Pollinator” license plates with the aim of helping to protect New Jersey’s native pollinators.

Created by Kip Bateman (R) and co-sponsored by Linda Greenstein (D), the bill will require the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission to create “Protect Pollinator” license plates, featuring a design and slogan that expresses support for New Jersey’s native pollinator animals.

“New Jersey would not be the Garden State without the help it gets from its native pollinators,” said Bateman. “From the gardens we grow to the produce we purchase at a local farmer’s market, many of our fruits, vegetables, and flowers rely on pollinators like bees and butterflies. The license plates will ensure our ‘Jersey Fresh’ plants and crops grow strong for generations.”

Rescue of a Juvenile Bald Eagle

Posted on July 29, 2020April 4, 2022 by larissasmith

Blog written by Eagle Project volunteer, Frank Budney

On June 15th, 2020 a juvenile Bald Eagle was rescued in a most unlikely location; on a major highway, located in an industrial area of Union County. At first glance stories like this usually have an unfortunate ending, considering the location, but the timely arrival of a local Police Officer on patrol saved the day.

This is only part of the story. The eagle in question was one of two nestlings that hatched from a nearby nest back on March 24. Its sibling fledged sometime in late May or early June while this individual remained on nest, branching next to it but never attempting to fly. By June 14, the juvenile in question was still perched next to the nest with no indication that it was about to fly until the following morning when it was rescued.

Juvenile eagle at nest site June 14th, the day before rescue@ Frank Budney

Swam with Dinosaurs and Famed for Caviar, Atlantic Sturgeon at risk in New Jersey

Posted on July 27, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

***Latest Podcast* *explores climate change threats to this ‘living fossil’***

by Milena Bimpong

Delaware State University professor Dr. Dewayne Fox and PhD student Matthew Breece weigh an adult Atlantic sturgeon. (Activities authorized under NMFS Permit No. 16507-01). © Delaware State University

A ‘living fossil’ today swims the Delaware River, having survived eons from the days of the dinosaurs through the caviar craze a century ago that nearly wiped it out for its roe, or valuable eggs.

However, as explored in the latest episode of State of Change – Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s regular podcast exploring climate change impacts on New Jersey wildlife –the Atlantic sturgeon faces an abundance of modern threats.

From a historic population of 360,000 adults, “Based on our best estimates, there’s less than 300 in the river. There’s less than 1 tenth of 1% that was there historically,” says Dewayne Fox, a professor of fisheries at Delaware State University. “The loss of one or two adults is a significant loss of spawning potential in the Delaware River.”

Among the largest river fishes in North America, the Atlantic sturgeon can grow up to 14 feet and weigh up to 800 pounds. One sturgeon from New Jersey is believed to have been over 1,000 pounds. The Atlantic sturgeon’s features indicate that their existence can be traced back to millions of years.

Yet that lengthy run was in jeopardy after facing ensuing perils of caviar harvesting and pollution.

New Terrapin Garden Grows in Little Egg Harbor

Posted on July 20, 2020April 4, 2022 by CWF

By Pat Johnson

*Two year old terrapin. we found on the road shoulder.*

CWF Habitat Manager Ben Wurst is known first and foremost for his work with New Jersey’s resident Osprey population. The job of a habitat manager doesn’t stop with ospreys, however. Ben’s work creating gardens for Diamondback Terrapins to safely nest in was recently the spotlight of an article by Pat Johnson of The Sand Paper.

Check out the excerpt below and read more on TheSandPaper.net!

Like tiny air raid shelters, protective cages sheltering the terrapin nests along Great Bay Boulevard in Little Egg Harbor keep them safe from predators, among them crows and gulls from the air and foxes and raccoons on the ground. The Great Bay Boulevard Terrapin Habitat Project site, commonly called the terrapin garden by its founder, Ben Wurst, habitat project manager for the Conservation Foundation of New Jersey, already has at least 50 nests on its sandy beach next to the salt marsh.

Latest Podcast explores climate change threats to this ‘living fossil’

***Latest Podcast* *explores climate change threats to this ‘living fossil’***