Airplanes Make Way For Tiny Turtles At New York Airport

The normally bustling runaway 4 at New York's John F. Kennedy airport, came to a standstill for about 30 minutes in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday, June 30th, for a rather unusual reason - To allow tiny Diamondback Terrapin turtles to cross over.

The 150 or so tiny reptiles that marched across the airport were not lost - They were just doing what they have been doing for generations - Going to their breeding grounds to the sandy shores of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge that lies on the other side.

As flight controllers directed airplanes to other runaways, airport workers quickly dashed in, scooped up the turtles onto the back of pick-up trucks and safely transported them to their sandy destination.

While this was largest batch to emerge this year, a few of the tiny turtles that measure a mere 6-9 inches in length, have been spotted scooting across over the last few weeks and more are expected to do so during the next couple of months until, breeding season comes to an end.

While it is strange so see this sight in the middle of the world's busiest airports, it is not surprising given JFK's location right next to Jamaica Bay, home to these tiny reptiles. Rendered almost extinct, thanks to overfishing just a few years ago, the turtles have recently made a comeback and conservationists estimate that there are now about 2,000 nests clustered in the 185-mile radius of the salty marshes around the Big Apple. However, they now face a new predator in the form of raccoons who seek out and consume over 95 percent of the eggs - A trend that is causing some concern among conservationists. Hopefully, they will be able to reverse the trend soon.

Resources:wnyc.org, dailymail.co.uk, telegraphpost.com