Sailor's Home Pond Turtle Trapping in Quincy - Pond Dredging and Turtle Relocation until Completion

Turtle trapping, then safe housing at New England Wildlife Center. When dredging is complete the turtles will be returned to Sailor's Home Pond.

My longtime New England Herpetological Society buddy, Joe Martinez, and I are working with Environmental Scientist Heather Lis, from Quincy, to protect the turtles at Sailor's Home Pond that is scheduled for dredging. It is home to lots of critters - including lots of painted turtles and a few snappers. Our plan is to trap the turtles, then they will be transported to the New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth where they will be cared for until the dredging is completed. Then they’ll get transported back to the pond. It's all quite similar to a different to a turtle removal project we did at another pond in Quincy a few years back.


Sailors Home Pond is part of the Neponset River watershed and is fed by Furnace Brook. The pond was named after the Sailors Home, a boarding house for retired sailors that operated on the shore of the pond from 1867 to 1907. The pond is a popular spot for fishing, boating, and birdwatching. The pond has a surface area of about 10 acres and a maximum depth of 15 feet.