Turtle Watch

Active turtle corridors near major roads in southeastern Virginia, based on citizen science observations from iNaturalist. Use this map to identify areas where turtles regularly cross roads during active seasons.

Protecting turtles from poaching. Many turtles, especially diamondback terrapins and box turtles, are targeted by poachers for the illegal pet and wildlife trade, so we are deliberately careful with location data. This map is built only from observations already published publicly on iNaturalist. It never includes SERC's own nesting, rescue, or release sites. We show no species, and crossing areas are aggregated into roughly 0.7 mile grid cells rather than precise points. That is enough to tell drivers where to slow down, but not enough to lead anyone to a specific animal or nest.

If you photograph turtles for iNaturalist, please consider obscuring the location on sensitive species so their exact coordinates stay protected.
🐢 Peak season: Turtles are actively moving now. Please slow down near wetlands, forested roadsides, and highlighted areas on this map.
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Individual sighting Crossing area near major road (3+ sightings) High activity area (6+ sightings) Powered by iNaturalist · Road geometry: OpenStreetMap
About this map. Green dots show individual turtle sightings from iNaturalist (all quality levels, spring–fall). Red areas highlight small zones (~0.7 mile grid cells) with 3 or more sightings within approximately 0.35 miles of a major road — these are the places most worth slowing down. Species are not shown. Data is fetched live from iNaturalist and road geometry from OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API.

If you find an injured turtle on or near a road, contact Southeastern Reptile Conservation for guidance on next steps.