Mass turtle crossing delays flights at New York's JFK Airport
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 12:57AM 
A large group of diamondback terrapins stopped takeoffs at New York's Kennedy International Airport (IATA: JFK; ICAO: KJFK) yesterday morning. The turtles' annual summer migration route runs from Jamaica Bay (which borders Kennedy International to the south) to a nearby beach, where they lay their eggs. They attempted to cross runway 4L/22R en route to the beach.
A post to http://nycaviation.com explains that Kennedy International is "almost entirely surrounded by bays, creeks, swamps, and undeveloped land." 150 turtles made up the slow-moving caravan, according to a video from the Associated Press (below). Any air traffic backlog created by the terrapins' migration route worked itself out by the end of the day.
original stories
JFK Airport Runway Closed Due to Turtles (NYC Aviation)
Flight delays as JFK airport runway taken over by turtles! (New York Daily News)
Turtles halt flights at JFK airport (The Daily Telegraph)
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JFK, Kennedy International, beach, crossing, delays, diamondback, eggs, flights, migration, route, terrapins, turtles in air travel safety, airports in North America 
Reader Comments (2)
Maybe the turtles just want to entertain at the same time they are looking for a new shelter.
That is so true As an author and business man, I like how you said “The turtles' annual summer migration route runs from Jamaica Bay (which borders Kennedy International to the south) to a nearby beach, where they lay their eggs”. I hope more people discover your blog because you really know what you're talking about. Can't wait to read more from you!