Safer Crab Pots for Terrapins!

Jocelyn Hurley’s 6th grade students at Charleston Day School first took a “walkabout” around the neighborhood surrounding the school. Students were having difficulty identifying issues that the majority of the class could become invested in. Since CDS is a private school, the students come from different areas of town and identified their community as the greater Charleston area. Students decided to survey their peers and family members to see what issues they thought were important before deciding that they would address wildlife conservation/preservation.

The CDS students still felt they needed to narrow their topic so several community partners presented ideas to the students to help them decide what to do. Students spoke with Dr. Phil Dustan, from the College of Charleston, about how roads and bridges affect wildlife, then to Jeff Schwenter, of SC Department of Natural Resources, about threats to Diamondback Terrapins and finally to Stephen Schnabel, from the Center for Birds of Prey, about the effects of development on birds. Students felt that they were very informed by the end of their research and decided they wanted to reach out to the tourists that visit Charleston’s beaches and waterways.

Ms. Hurley’s students divided the work among 3 groups to complete outreach projects to protect the Diamondback Terrapins. The groups all worked together to install bycatch reduction devices (BRD’s) or terrapin excluder devices (TED’s) in crab pots sold at marine supply stores. One group contacted retailers (West Marine, Haddrell’s, & The Charleston Angler) and got permission for students to install the BRD’s on their crab traps. A second group of students created a brochure to explain what the BRD’s were and why they were important. These brochures were attached to the crab traps and some were left for the retailers to give to their customers. A final group worked to create a script and film the installation of BRD’s for a short film to be put on YouTube and used by SC Aquarium representatives to show people how easy it is to install a BRD.

All three groups came together for one big Saturday of BRD installation and filming at the various locations. Students were excited, working hard to install 50+ BRD’s and even had a parent contribute to their cause by buying 10 traps for the students to donate to the SC Aquarium and sell to raise money for next year’s Earth Force project! Shelley Dearhart of the SC Aquarium was quick to commend the students for all their hard work when they presented her with 2 of their improved crab traps at the Charleston Maritime Festival. She even added the CDS brochure on BRD’s to her display table for all the Festival patrons to see!