Jul 12 2009
Sunday Morning Horseshoe Crab Flip
Approaching Fowler Beach this morning, I glanced at the interpretive sign declaring it a Horseshoe Crab sanctuary. I thought back to the height of the crab spawning in May and thought how much more placid things felt now, as the frenzied activity of spring slowly melted into the comparative quiet of midsummer. It would be almost another year before I saw many Horseshoe Crabs again.
I was yanked from this reverie by the sight of several dozen horseshoe crabs. What were they doing here in July? The short answer, it quickly became apparent, was that they were dying. We’ve just passed the full moon and I would hypothesize that there was a late-season push of attempted spawning.
Whatever was going on, it hadn’t turned out well for these individuals–they were stranded, on their backs, and the July sun was climbing into the sky even faster than the cornstalks currently erupting from the fields just inland.
I quickly commenced a round of triage by toe…gently nudging each crab to look for signs of life.
Nearly all responded with the universal Horseshoe Crab sign of sentience–they raised their telsons (the tail-like appendage that many people fear will sting them–it won’t) high into the air. This maneuver is part of their ritual for righting themselves if and when they are overturned, a calamity that seems to occur fairly frequently, at least when they are negotiating the perilous boundary between beach and bay. If they land on their backs in the wrong substrate and are isolated by the receding tide, they often die, their book gills slowly drying out as they are set upon by hungry gulls and gravid flies.
But these guys (smaller HSC I’m about to pick up) and gals (larger one in back) were in luck. I went through and carefully returned all the survivors to the cool dark waters of Delaware Bay, leaving the sliver of beach I could access HSC-free.
I didn’t keep count, but I would guess I picked up between two and three dozen of the creatures. It took the better part of an hour, to great dismay of my dog, Brecon, who silently implored me to cut the good samaritan act and get back to more important things, namely, our eternal game of fetch.
I don’t know if my flipping these Horseshoe Crabs did any good, beyond providing me with a little wave of good feelings. As I’ve said here before, I reluctantly tend toward skepticism about these kinds of things, though in this case, there are many, some well informed, who say it is helpful. So that’s good. In any event, it’s hard to imagine what it could hurt. Heaven knows, we provide the gulls and flies with plenty of other dining options.
So I’ll keep flipping, whenever the opportunity presents.
Good deeds and acts of kindness are never wasted.
These crabs and the shorebirds that depend on their eggs for migration fuel need all the help they can get. Next time you are out west, maybe you can help out with the Brown-headed Cowbird problem at Calliope Crossing near Sisters, OR. Nice piece.
It certainly wasn’t a wasted effort for those 36 crabs you rescued. Way to go.
Thanks, Jeff.
I’m sure Brecon forgot the delay as soon as you threw the ball.
Love, Mom
Nice of u to be a flippin maniac…tee hee.
we did that in may when all the craziness of horseshoe crabs were a happening.
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We can use more compassion everywhere. Nice helping hand and toe. Love your dog’s patience!
Flippin’ hsc’s is always a welcomed relief for the crab, but I would suggest working on those tan patterns on your feet! But then again, they are a good field marks!
Great work…sounds like a Loren Eiseley story called the Starthrower.
“You can’t possibly save all those starfish. It won’t make a difference.”
Throwing a star back into the surf, the man said “It made a difference to that one.”
Thanks for making a difference. DB
What a great post – I’m sure the crabs you rescued don’t think you wasted your time, and neither do I. Way to go. I like you already.
Way to go Jeff! I love nature lovers, especially active ones. Hopefully all of us are raising the awareness of others, through our blogs, on what we can all do to make this a better world.
Thanks for saving these crabs to breed once again.
Very good. Living out here in Las Vegas and being from Maryland, I miss Skip and I’s trips up to Delaware and Jersey birding. Nice photos and stick a toe in the bay for us…
Thanks, Jeff.
I’m sure Brecon forgot the delay as soon as you threw the ball.
Love, Mom