Horseshoe Carbs are supposed to come ashore in New Jersey during full moon between May and June. Yesterday, the first sunny day after several days of rain, I went to Fortescue at the southern end of New Jersey on the Delaware Bay to see this year’s crabs.
I only saw carcasses of the crabs strewn on the beach. The crabs crawl up on the sand to mate and some were overturned by tidal waves. They lay helpless on the beach unable to flip themselves over. There were hundreds of them on the white sandy beach. I turned one over, but it was already dead.
Looking at one section of the beach where normally thousand of birds would be feeding on the eggs of horseshoe crabs, I saw Sanderlings and various types of gulls, but no Red Knots, those long-distance sandpipers who fly from South America to the Artic. Perhaps they have already come and gone.
The birds seemed to be eating something in the water, but I could not tell what it was.
Turning around, I saw a female Red-winged Blackbird perched on a shrub.
neihtn 
Shame to hear about the crabs Hien … the bird shots are lovely as always
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This was fascinating, Hien. The horseshoe crabs and all the activities on this beach were well described in your words and photos. We don’t have horseshoe crabs on the US west coast and every time I go to the east coast I am amazed by this creature, though I’ve never seen anything but the carcasses.
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I’m glad you find the crabs and all these activities fascinating. When I first went to see them more than 10 years ago, there were only one or two photographers. Now there are lots more, many with big and long lenses …
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I’m glad the Horseshoe crabs are still coming ashore in good numbers. My mother remembered them on the beaches in the 1930s on Long Island, when she was growing up. Don’t those Laughing gulls look handsome in their breeding plumage? I miss hearing that call. 🙂 It looks like you had a nice day down there.
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Next time I’ll have to plan on going to see them around full moon in May or June, at high tide. That’s when there are thousands of birds, including Red Knots, feasting on the eggs.
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I guess there used to be so many crabs it didn’t matter if some of them got flipped over and died. It does seem like really tough luck, though.
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Horsehoe Crabs have existed for 440 million years, and they are still around. The biggest threat to them is now humans! Pharmaceutical companies hire fishermen to capture them and then use the crabs blood in testing for endotoxins and bacterial contamination (in surgical instrument for example). The crabs are then released back to nature in a much weakened state. There is a growing movement to force that practice to end. I hope it succeeds.
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That’s terrible. So many creatures humans destroy, there needs to be government legislation to protect them. We cant trust all businesses to look after nature, although small ones often do.
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Great post with fantastic pictures, Hien, that is educational for me. I almost always learn something from your posts.
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Thank you Tim! I have learned a lot since I began blogging, and am still learning every day. 😉
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I’ve never seen a female red-winged blackbird. Or if I have, I didn’t know it.
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Liz, the female is not red-winged, and she is brown not black. You have probably seen her but was not aware she was a red-winged blackbird!
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I expect you’re right.
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Life can be harsh! What a way to go. 😦
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Indeed! Sometimes I try to help them, but I can only flip a few (less than 10), and there can be hundreds or thousands of them on a long beach.
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Great photos.
Interesting that the crabs haven’t developed to ability to cope with the waves.
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Thanks, Nes. I also wonder why over 135 million years they have not evolved and learned how to flip themselves over. Maybe that’s why they like the full moon, when the waves are many and can come up to help them.
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Hien, I must say that’s a crabby story, LOL! Great set of images as always. 🙂
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Especially when you can see thousands of crabs crawling around trying to mate! Horseshoe crabs have lived for at least 135 million years, and some of their ancestors go back 440 million years.
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Great photos! I especially loved the redwing blackbird
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Thank you Bonnie! That bird was a good subject, holding still for the camera over more than one minute. Maybe she was thinking how the babies would enjoy their shrimp lunch!
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Some interesting observations, even though they were not what you were looking for. Do you think some of the horseshoe crabs survived their trek up the sand?
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In previous years I have seen horseshoe crabs very much alive on the sand, scurrying around to find a female. Usually several male crabs mate with one female. It’s the waves that doom them to an early death, by overturning them. Thank you for commenting!
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Nature can be harsh but it is the way it is.
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