Sailor's Home Pond Turtle Release in Quincy - Post Pond Dredging and Turtle Trapping

We trapped the turtles, and then safe housed the turtles at New England Wildlife Center. Dredging is complete and the turtles will be returned to Sailor's Home Pond on May 9, 2026. 

There will be some fanfare and a turtle educational table during this release event. Come if you want to see the turtle's new digs. Should be fun!

My longtime New England Herpetological Society buddy, Joe Martinez, and I worked with Environmental Scientist Heather Lis, from Quincy, to protect the turtles at Sailor's Home Pond while the pond was dredged. It is home to lots of critters - including lots of painted turtles and a few snappers. We trapped the turtles and then transported them to the New England Wildlife Center in South Weymouth where they are being cared for until the project completion and their release. 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.