Turtles on the tarmac at JFK

While airplanes fly overhead at JFK airport — down below— you’ll find Diamondback Terrapin turtles on the move.

"They like to come up every June and July  to nest. And they like to lay their eggs above high tide line. They’re looking for loose, sandy soil. and so the airport makes a perfect spot for them to lay their eggs," said Laura Francoeur. 

Francoeur is Port Authority’s Chief Wildlife Biologist at JFK. We shadowed her on one of her daily missions to keep terrapins off the tarmac. You’ll only find female terrapins here because they’re the ones laying eggs. The males stay in the nearby bay. 

We spotted several turtles swaggering down the runway, even though it’s not easy to get here.

"We put this, about 4,000 linear feet of this tubing out, and for the most part it keeps I’d say probably 90% of the terrapins out. And there's plenty of property on the other side of that for them to nest. And this way they don't impact aircraft operations at JFK," said Francoeur.

Francoeur says about 630 turtles have made their way onto the airport grounds so far this year. Only a handful of those turtles get all the way to the tarmac before Francoeur and her team find and tag them. After being tagged, the turtles are sent back to their home in the Jamaica Bay.

Tagging allows Francoeur to collect data and see how much the terrapins grow over the years. her team is also working on a GPS tracking system to see where the turtles go when they’re not nesting. 
If you thought they lived by the motto "slow and steady wins the race" — these speedy ladies will prove you wrong.