According to Karen Testa, Executive Director of the Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons, turtle rescues in the Hamptons are on the rise. The spike in native turtle injuries has caused the organization’s facilities to become overcrowded; they cannot take in all of the turtles in need.
The Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons helps more than two hundred turtles each year. “The turtles come in with ear abscesses, their feet are hanging from dogs chewing on their bodies, the boats crush their shells,” Testa told Bronx News 12. Other causes of turtle injuries include landscapers and bulldozers razing their natural habitats and falling into window wells.
Their state-of-the-art rehabilitation facility, affectionately called “Turtle Manor,” is a converted 1920s farmhouse on the North Fork of Long Island. The group supports both native and wild turtles in the East End of Long Island while also raising awareness among the public about responsible care for Chelonian species.
Testa gave these tips on protecting turtles from common injuries she is seeing this year: “Make sure you don’t boat in low-line areas, you want to cover your window wells, install Bilco doors on your cement steps going down into the basement. You don’t want to use chemicals, use organic instead,” she explained. The Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons website also reminds people never to pick a turtle up by their tail and not to place a brackish aquatic species – like a diamondback terrapin – in freshwater or the woods.
The organization strives to educate the public about the importance of native turtles to their environment. Wild turtles are a keystone species, meaning they keep our ecosystem in balance. Turtles eat dead fish and plants and cleanse the water of bacteria, making them part of a natural cleaning crew. They also fertilize the soil by adding calcium, disperse seeds through their digestion, and produce nitrogen and phosphorus. Turtles also play a crucial role in keeping the tick population under control. The more the public is exposed to this information, the more motivated people will be to rescue injured turtles and bring them in to be cared for by the Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons.
