It’s that time of year: Watch out for turtles on Route 1
Every summer, from the end of May to the end of July, female terrapins from Coastal Delaware’s Inland Bays lay their eggs. Some dig holes on the bays’ beaches, but many attempt to cross Route 1 to lay their eggs in the dunes on the ocean side of the highway.
For years now, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Center for the Inland Bays have installed signs warning drivers about the turtles and a fence that encourages the turtles to stay on the bay side of the highway. This year, much of the fencing was replaced.
The signs and fencing are not 100 percent successful. CIB conducted its inaugural terrapin survey last year, and 90 turtle strikes were counted.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
