While Jerry and his terrapin kin have come back from near extinction, some of their Connecticut turtle cousins haven't been so fortunate.

Of the 12 Connecticut turtle species, seven are considered endangered, threatened or of special concern.

"It's the curse of the long-lived, slow-reproducing species," said Jenny Dickson, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which has been working to raise public awareness and appreciation for turtles during the international Year of the Turtle.

Freshwater species such as the bog turtle, which is endangered in Connecticut and only found in the western part of the state, and the Eastern box and wood turtles, which bear the "special concern" label, are in decline due mainly to loss of habitat, Dickson said. Habitat fragmentation - when natural areas and turtle populations become isolated from one another by roads and development - is also blamed.

These turtles are also prone to getting hit by cars as they cross roads to reach primordial nesting sites. Others were taken out of the wild for the illegal pet trade. Dickson said that in the case of mature females, which produce only a few eggs at a time and not before they are about 10 years old, taking just one turtle has a huge impact. (All taking of turtles from the wild is illegal in Connecticut.)

Cris Sodergren, aquarist at the Mystic Aquarium, recalled that when he was growing up, he frequently saw wood turtles. Now, he can't recall the last time he saw one.

This summer, he did spot two Eastern box turtles, which live at the edges of swamps and streams. One he found while hiking with his son near the Moodus Reservoir. The other had just been nicked by a passing car on a road in East Haddam, and was flipped onto its back. Sodergren righted the turtle and watched him continue on his way.

"If anyone sees a turtle in the middle of the road, they should move it to the side of the road in the direction it was pointing," he said.

Land conservation efforts by the state, land trusts and private landowners - particularly preservation of wetlands and stream corridors - are the most effective means of helping these freshwater turtles restore their populations, Dickson said. She asked that anyone who sees a bog, box or wood turtle to take a photograph with the location and send it to: dep.wildlife@ct.gov.

For the four species of sea turtles that can be found seasonally in Long Island Sound, main threats are plastic bags they mistake for jellyfish, a favorite food, as well as fishing gear entanglement, pollution and boat strikes. Typically, sea turtles stay in deeper waters of the Sound, but they can sometimes be seen on beaches and small offshore islands.

Dickson said a law passed a few years ago limiting to 10 the number of balloons that can be released at once is one effort to reduce the chance that turtles will die from ingesting a balloon that, to them, looks like a jellyfish. Three years ago, state environmental officials began installing fishing line collecting receptacles at boat launches and fishing piers, and they seem to be working well at getting fishermen to discard used line properly, Dickson said.

In Connecticut, Mystic Aquarium is the agency designated to respond to sea turtle strandings. Mostly, Sodergren said, what comes in are loggerheads and leatherbacks, and usually they're already dead.

"Sea turtles don't like to come on shore," he said, so when they do, it's often because they're sick or injured.

But he has seen live sea turtles in the area, too, recalling recently spotting a loggerhead off Westbrook and a leatherback off Block Island.

Last winter, a live Kemp's Ridley turtle that had washed up on a beach at Fishers Island came to the aquarium. It was "cold stunned" by a sudden drop in temperature, recalled Dr. Allison Tuttle, director of animal care and staff veterinarian at the aquarium. After she and other staff were able to stabilized the turtle, it was taken to the New England Aquarium in Boston, where it continued its recovery and was ultimately released.

One of the permanent residents of the aquarium is Charlotte, an Atlantic green sea turtle with paralysis in its back flippers due to a boat strike. The subject of a children's book called "Bubble Butt," - a reference to one facet of her injury that causes her rear end to float strangely - Charlotte was brought to the aquarium in 2009.

"At this point she's not releaseable," Tuttle said. "But she does continue to show improvement."

Also at the aquarium are two loggerhead hatchlings that will be kept for about a year, then released. They're part of a kind of "head start" program for loggerheads that otherwise wouldn't survive where they hatched, Tuttle said, that the aquarium has been participating in with a North Carolina aquarium for three years.

She urged anyone who sees a sea turtle washed up on a beach to call the aquarium's hotline at (860) 572-5955, extension 107.

j.benson@theday.com

The bog turtle is on the state's endangered list.

Box turtles are of special concern in the state.

CONNECTICUT TURTLE SPECIES IN DANGER

Endangered:

Bog turtle

Kemp's Ridley sea turtle

Leatherback sea turtle

Threatened:

Atlantic green sea turtle

Loggerhead sea turtle

Special concern:

Eastern box turtle

Wood turtle

Most commonly seen types:

Painted turtle

Snapping turtle

Spotted turtle

Musk turtle

For information, visit: www.ct.gov/dep/yearofturtle