The Marion Natural History Museum welcomed the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance last week to learn about what can be done to rescue Diamondback terrapins and Ocean sunfish in the area.

Terrapins live in the brackish coastal waters off our coast and nest along our sandy beaches.

Ocean sunfish swim in the open waters along our coast and due to their distinctive dorsal fins — which wave above the water surface — are occasionally mistaken for sharks when viewed from a distance.

The New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance showed attendees how they are working to protect terrapins as well as helping sunfish who find themselves stranded in water too shallow for them to escape and get back out to the open ocean.

The museum thanked Krill Carson and the volunteers at the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance for all their work protecting these important species.