Horseshoe Crab

Cook's Beach, NJ

New Jersey is suppose to have a moratorium on harvesting horseshoe crabs. Their numbers have dwindled since the mid 1990's when this photo was taken. All along the Delaware Bay on both sides (Delaware and New Jersey) these crabs would beach themselves, the female would lay her eggs and the male would fertilize them. From South America migragating shorebirds, red knots, dunlins and ruddy turnstones, fly non-stop until reaching our bay. Once here they gorge themselves on the eggs gaining weight and protein for the next and last leg of their flight, the arctic.

Environmentalists have noticed a huge drop in the number of birds and there is a direct correlation between the lack of horseshoe crab eggs and the dwindling of the shorebirds. The year this photo was taken, 1993, I was amazed at how many birds there were at both Cook's and Reed's Beaches. It was also the time when horseshoe crabs were beginning to be heavily "harvested" by fisherman. The more these ancient creatures are harvested the less food for the shorebirds. The less food, the less chance of survival and the less chance the birds will breed. This area of southern New Jersey has been known for years for its wonderful birding and our economy depends on people coming from around the world to see this phenomenal sight.