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THE HORSESHOE CRAB AND SHOREBIRDS BOND IN SANDY HOOK The harbor in Atlantic Highlands is nearly full of boats being moored for the Memorial Day weekend. Upland, the sweet perfume smell of Locust tree flowers fills the air. Down by the beach, sensitive wrinkled flowers of Rosa Rugusa, also known as the Beach Rose or Salt-spray Rose, cover the sandy high dune landscape with purplish-pink to rose-red hues and sweet scents. It is the last full weekend of May. Summer is upon us. The air is warm and humid. The soil is still damp from overnight thunderstorms that must have poured out at least an inch of rain. With the passing of a front yesterday comes the promise of sunny skies and dry weather for the remainder of the holiday weekend. I drive to Sandy Hook after 4pm when the entrance fee is waved off and the mass of visitors have departed. I find a parking place at Parking Lot C. I cross over Hartshorne Drive and begin my solitary walk beside the bay to enjoy the cool breezes and serene setting along the water’s edge. The evening shoreline stroll reveals a dozen or more Horseshoe Crabs that have been overturned by tides and waves during the act of mating. Although some people (especially new residents and visitors) are afraid of the critters, Horseshoe Crabs are actually harmless to humans. I have never heard of anyone being attacked by a Horseshoe Crab. The idea seems silly to me. The crab’s legs will not hurt a person and the tail is really delicate, So much so, that if you pick up a Horseshoe Crab by its tail, it might disconnect from the body and break off.
(An upside down Horseshoe Crab in need of someone to flip it over) I do my small part to try to preserve the Horseshoe Crabs by gently grabbing the shell along one side and just turning them over one by one. I am not sure if this animal can feel joy, but the crabs seem more at ease now as they head to secluded estuarine waters. Quite a few environmental organizations in New Jersey and Delaware will tell you that most of the Horseshoe Crab population along the East Coast can be found in the shallow waters of Delaware Bay. Yet, how would they know? To the best of my knowledge there has never been a proper scientific population study of Horseshoe Crabs throughout New Jersey, including the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary and Raritan Bay-Sandy Hook Bay. I think there are some people who want to write off the northern Bayshore region of Monmouth County as being biologically void of Horseshoe Crabs, perhaps because we live in an urban region. Yet people, especially scientists and policy makers, should not make the mistake of ignoring Horseshoe Crabs in other parts of the Atlantic Coast other than Delaware Bay. If the Horseshoe Crab is to survive and co-exist with people in New Jersey we must learn to celebrate their spring visits to Sandy Hook Bay and any sandy beach within an estuarine area along the Jersey Shore, from Raritan Bay to Delaware Bay. We ought to welcome Horseshoe Crabs to our beaches, fully protect their habitat statewide, and value them for the important role they play to sustain many migrating shorebirds.
(A collection of Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones and other migrating shorebirds looking for Horseshoe Crab eggs along Sandy Hook Bay) Every year in May and June, for thousands of years now, countless Horseshoe Crabs have been arriving to beaches along the Jersey Shore for just one reason – to reproduce. During this time, female crabs will give off a chemical pheromone that will attract male crabs. It is not unusual to see loads of males courting a single female. Only one male, however, will be lucky in grasping the female with his specially adapted front claws that sort of resemble boxing gloves. Females will then drag the male at her rear along a shoreline to fertilize newly deposited eggs. In total, a single female Horseshoe Crab will lay between 80,000 to 100,000 eggs each year. This potential food source does not go unnoticed by birds and other animals. About 90 percent of Horseshoe Crab eggs are eaten by predators, such as gulls, raccoons, grackles, turtles, and some shallow water fishes and crabs. Yet, the most significant consumer of Horseshoe Crab eggs are migratory shorebirds. Just as Horseshoe Crabs are beginning their mating season, thousands of miles away, another natural phenomenon is starting. Tiny coastal birds, such as Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlins, Sanderlings, and Semipalmated Sandpipers have set forth from their wintering homes in Central and South America, some as far south as Tuerra del Fuego, to fly thousands of miles towards their summer nesting grounds in the high tundra of the Arctic In between their long and exhausting journey they will need to stop for rest and refueling. This is where the Jersey Shore and our Horseshoe Crab population play an important role. After several days of non-stop flight, and having come as far as perhaps 10,000 miles, these shorebirds are depleted of energy. They arrive to the Jersey Shore very thin and literally down to feathers and bone. The migratory birds will spend between two to three weeks along the Jersey Shore to rest and gorge primarily on newly laid Horseshoe Crabs. The Jersey Shore provides an important migratory rest stop for the shorebird’s spring northward winged migration. Eating Horseshoe Crab eggs will provide the birds with enough protein and fat to allow them to nearly double or triple their body weight before continuing their long, non-stop flight to the Arctic. Sanderlings for example, may double their weight by feeding on an average of nine thousands eggs a day. On my walk along the sandy beach of Sandy Hook Bay, I catch sight of numerous Red Knots, Dunlins, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sanderlings. They squabble about alongside mud flats and the sandy shoreline to get their fill of Horseshoe Crab eggs. These birds depend on Sandy Hook Bay as an important place to have a rest on their long northward migration. They also put their faith in Horseshoe Crabs laying enough eggs to not only allow birds to feast on, but to continue another generation of Horseshoe Crabs.
(A group of small migrating shorebirds: a Dunlin and several Sandpipers along Sandy Hook Bay) There is no doubt in my mind that Sandy Hook Bay and Raritan Bay with our long sandy beaches and shallow waters provide an ideal habitat for Horseshoe Crabs and their young. As a result, the northern Bayshore region of New Jersey is an essential resting point for migratory shorebirds that provides a rich feeding area. Of course how long will this vital resting point be around? As more sprawl and unwanted development looms over our beaches, the region starts to lose important habitat for resident and migratory animals. How long until the population of Horseshoe Crab fades away and the birds waste away and die on their northward migration. If you care about preserving our coastal environment and preserving the vital link between Horseshoe Crabs and migratory shorebirds, then you need to speak out for their protection: always vote yes for open space ballot measures, speak up at town meetings against unwanted and poorly planned development that will exist in close proximity to beaches or wetlands, and make sure your community provides wide, vegetated or riparian buffers between a waterway and local development. In addition, we all need to support further research on the present status of the Horseshoe Crab population statewide, including in Sandy Hook Bay and Raritan Bay, and to support a restricted state-wide ban on harvesting Horseshoe Crabs by commercial fisherman for eel and whelk bait. It is getting dark now as I return back to Parking Lot C. Still, I continue to see quite a few Horseshoe Crabs plodding along the beach and the floor of the bay. Tiny migrating shorebirds are also still active as they seek a fatty meal of crab eggs. I only hope that our lack of knowledge about the vital link between Horseshoe Crabs and tiny migratory shorebirds is on a short path to a better understanding and a happy ending for the crabs and the birds. They are both important elements to the character, history, and environment of the Jersey Shore. | ||||||||
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