By Alexander Campbell

The 2025 field season for the Turtle Conservation Committee (TCC) was a very successful one!
From the end of March till mid November, members of the TCC were very busy helping to conserve everyone’s favourite reptile. From wading through dense vegetated wetlands, to responding to late calls about nesting and injured turtles, here is a breakdown of all the fantastic work that the dedicated members accomplished in 2025.

2025 Stats:
345 newly documented turtle observations
500+ volunteer working hours
530+ deceased reptiles & amphibians documented on roads
73 calls & texts were responded to from the emergency & Turtle nesting hotline
79 turtles & 3 snakes were successfully assisted across roads or brought to a wildlife rehab
34 nest protectors were deployed on turtle nests: 4 Blanding’s Turtles, 11 Common Snapping Turtles, 2 Northern Map Turtles, 16 Midland Painted Turtles and 1 Eastern Musk Turtle.

We are currently gearing up for the 2026 season, which means this is the perfect time to get involved! There are many ways you can help by joining the TCC, from surveys to transporting injured turtles to rehabilitation centres, there is something for everyone in this committee. We currently in need of volunteers to assist with the current projects the committee has running:

  • Media, Outreach & Community Engagement
  • Surveys: Occupancy, Visual Encounter, Mark-recapture, Road Mortality, Opportunistic
  • Grant Writing & Fundraising
  • Nest box construction
  • Turtle Nest Protection

Do you have a skill that was not listed but think would benefit the committee or have interest in joining this turtley-awesome committee? Please email us at

As a reminder, with this warm weather turtles will begin to start crossing roads and within a couple months will begin to nest and they need your help!

If you come across an injured or deceased turtle please let us know! You can call or text our injured & nesting turtle hotline to report observations. Our members are trained on how to respond to injured & deceased turtles and align transportation for them to receive immediate emergency care and examination. Why deceased turtles you may ask? The majority of times a turtle may seem dead, they often still have brain function and absolute death can only be determined by professionals. Females during nesting season may also be carrying eggs, after a female turtle passes, her eggs can still be salvaged and incubated by permitted individuals.

Additionally, you can call the hotline to report nesting turtles and members will be able to assist with the protection of the nest and record much needed data on nesting selection of turtles in Essex County.