Delaware Bay Horseshoe Crabs Get a Helping Hand from American Littoral Society & Volunteers in NJ
Description
The Delaware Bay is known as the horseshoe crab capital of the world. In May and June, millions of crabs come onto the beaches to spawn, and each female lays thousands of eggs.
While the horseshoe crab has existed for some 400 million years, more than once their population has been decimated by overharvesting. In turn, other species have been severely impacted - including the threatened red knot - that depend on horseshoe crab eggs for survival.
The nonprofit American Littoral Society recently restored Thompson's Beach in Cumberland County, NJ, with 32 thousand tons of sand, to make it into more suitable habitat for horseshoe crabs and shorebirds. Shane Godshall, habitat restoration project manager with the Littoral Society, talks about these fascinating animals, that are more closely related to spiders and scorpions than true crabs.
The Littoral Society invites the public to participate in horseshoe crab tagging and monitoring programs, to help keep tabs on the health and distribution of this critically important species.
American Littoral Society https://www.littoralsociety.org
Sandra Levine Productions https://sandralevine.com
Watch Still Time for Joy as a video podcast on YouTube @SandraLevineProd
United States
