Terps, Terrapin Institute Team up on Media Day
10/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Share The Shell
By: Ryan Satsky - Maryland Media Relations Student Assistant
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - On Tuesday, the Maryland men's basketball program hosted a slew of media for its annual Media Day at XFINITY Center.
Sophomore Melo Trimble and freshman Diamond Stone garnered quite a bit of attention from reporters from around the DMV and the country. But it was their reptile counterparts who may have been the stars of the show.
The Maryland men's basketball program teamed up with the Terrapin Institute, a non-profit organization based in Neavitt, Md., to promote the conservation of diamondback terrapins within the state of Maryland. In addition to 10 hatchlings, the Institute brought two 'college-aged' terrapins – appropriately named Diamond and Melo.
The diamondback terrapin is a signature species to both the state of Maryland, as well as its state university – the University of Maryland. Traditionally, it has been one of the most prevalent species to inhabit the Chesapeake Bay in Northern Maryland, a body of water that serves as an integral part of the state's ecology.
Here in College Park, the diamondback terrapin shares a namesake with both the school mascot and the school newspaper, which is titled The Diamondback.
Marguerite Whilden and Jeff Popp have been co-heading the Terrapin Institute movement since 1998, which was back during a time when diamondback terrapins were made available for commercial harvest, and therefore, severely declining in overall population.
Dating back as far as the 19th century, these terrapins had been a state-regulated species as a result of the terrapin being a highly sought-after food item.
“It is a species that is managed by the state – the Department of Natural Resources,” Whilden explained. “We're hoping to work with them and encourage some renewed concerns about the conservation of the turtle.”
Fortunately, in 2006, state legislature closed the commercial harvest of the diamondback terrapin, putting a damper to the rapid decline in population of the species.
However, the Terrapin Institute still believes that more awareness needs to be spread about the conservation of one of Maryland's native species, and that the current efforts to regulate this issue have been less than sufficient.
The current negative trend in diamondback terrapin population within the Chesapeake Bay can be attributed to two specific shortcomings – the inadequate protection of its habitat and the bycatch issue.
The Chesapeake Bay, one of the most ideal habitats for the terrapin due to its widespread convergence of freshwater and saltwater, has been subject to habitat destruction recently due to factors such as global warming, land development, and pollution.
If these factors are not addressed, the diamondback terrapin will continue to lose some of the only inhabitable area it currently has to live in.
So the Maryland men's basketball team and the Terrapin Institute helped re-ignite some positive karma for the Terps as part of Tuesday's highly-attended Maryland Basketball Media Day.
“The last time our organization came to the University, it was around 2001, when the basketball program obviously had a ton of success making it to two Final Fours and winning a championship,” Whilden said. “This team, according to many sports aficionados, is very much like those 2001 and 2002 teams. And we wish the basketball team a lot of similar luck we love that Maryland called us to come back this season.”
If the 2015-16 basketball season holds any similarities to the 2001-02 basketball season, the Maryland faithful will be in for one exciting winter.
Despite such lofty expectations, achieving that level of success will be no easy task, but to help with the cause, Whilden offered some strong advice.
“If you take care of the mascot, it will take care of you,” Whilden said.
