Volunteers needed to monitor sexual activity

For the next two months, the Maryland Coastal Bays Program will be looking for volunteers to participate in the Tenth Annual Horseshoe Crab Spawner Survey. The work will help determine horseshoe crab abundance and increase understanding of the crab’s spawning behavior.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources dropped the survey last year but the Coastal Bays Program took it over and is now conducting it annually.

A relative of the spider, horseshoe crab males (like human males) spend much of the spring and early summer looking to grab one or more females during the right tide, on the right beach, and in the right moon phase. Using light receptors to detect ultraviolet moonlight, adults migrate inshore every year during the late spring and early summer to spawn on sandy bay beaches.

The Coastal Bays’ volunteer horseshoe crab survey is part of an East Coast-wide horseshoe crab fishery management plan adopted in 1998. Behavior and population data gathered by volunteers provides significant input for this effort.

Horseshoe crabs have many biomedical applications in eye research, surgical suture and wound dressing development (anything labeled ‘sterile’ has been tested for bacteria using an end product of horseshoe crab blood). Most injectable drug products and all medical devices such as replacement hips and artificial hearts are safety tested using live horseshoe crab blood.

For ecosystem purposes, horseshoe crab eggs are a primary food source for several species of migratory shorebirds. The migration of many shorebirds is timed to coincide with the horseshoe crab spawning season. The crab eggs are also an important food source for more than a dozen fish species.

The biggest threat to horseshoe crabs in coastal bays is habitat loss. As with the Maryland terrapin, the sandy bay beaches the crabs use to lay their eggs are losing ground to bulkheading and stone riprap. The horseshoe crab survey will help determine which beaches are used most.

To help in this effort, volunteers are needed for 12 nights from mid-May through July 1. The survey typically takes less than an hour and is generally conducted during the evening or early morning. (time varies with location). Sites can be monitored by individuals or teams whose members cannot commit to all 12 dates. Horseshoe crabs cannot pinch, sting, or bite and should only be lifted by the shell, not the tail which is used as a means for the crabs to right themselves when flipped over.

If you would like to participate in the survey, please click HERE. For more information please call Carol Cain at the Coastal Bays Program office at 410-213-2297 or e-mail her at technical@mdcoastalbays.org.