SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. -- The rare diamondback terrapin has been detected in Westerly's Winnapaug Pond, the University of Rhode Island reported on Monday.
URI said in a news release that Meghan Beatty, a student and Bristol native now living in Sandwich, Mass., found nine terrapins there, and believes there are probably more. Beatty was assigned to survey the diamondback population by the university and the Rhode Island Natural History Survey.
"Until now, the only known population of terrapins in Rhode Island has been in Hundred Acre Cove in Barrington and in the Palmer River in Warren," said Beatty, a wildlife and conservation biology major.
Found in salt marsh estuaries from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico, diamondback terrapins are the only turtle species in the country that lives in brackish water, URI said. Named for the diamond pattern on its shell, the turtle grows to about eight inches in length with a body color that varies from gray and brown to yellow. In Rhode Island, it is considered endangered and is protected.
Beatty said she detected the new population using binoculars and a kayak.