Horseshoe Crab Adventures

Back in May I took the children back to Delaware Bay to see the natural phenomenon of the mating horseshoe crabs. From all my research on the topic I've learned the best time to see the crabs is at the high tide of the full or new moons from late May to early June, with Delaware Bay having the most populous beaches on the whole East coast.  Last year we were there at the new moon and while we saw several horseshoe crabs, we didn't see the thousands that come ashore at once.  This year we went on the full moon and so I hoped for a better turnout.

We were disappointed.  The first night on the beach we saw nothing but a small dead shark.  It was windy and drizzling and I felt very discouraged for having driven so far for nothing. 

The next morning we went to the hotel pool where I met a man who said he remembered seeing horseshoe crabs at Assateague Island when he was a kid.  Assateague Island was a little over an hour away so I hurried the kids out of the pool and we headed south.  I figured even if we didn't see the crabs, at least we'd find some sort of adventure - certainly a better option than hanging out in the hotel room all day watching SpongeBob while it rained outside.

On the way to Assateague we passed a used car lot that had the most incredible old cars so we stopped to day dream.

 

On the island we decided to hike a few trails, one on the beach and the other on a boardwalk in the marsh.

 

at the beginning of our beach trail hike

 

 



the water was so cold!

wild horses on the side of the road

We left Assateague because we were starving and happened upon the cutest little downtown I've ever seen.  The storefronts were beautiful and old-fashioned, the roads a little narrow and windy.  I noticed a burger joint so we went in for a delicious dinner.  I asked the waitress where we were and she said Berlin, MA, where Tuck Everlasting and another well known movie were filmed.

We went back to Assateague to the bay side to see if there were any signs of the horseshoe crabs.  Nope.  We did see a seagull drop a clam in the parking lot and then swoop down to eat it.

broken clam shell

The sun was setting so we played around the water.  Eiley experimented taking photos of the setting sun.  She has gotten really interested in photography lately.

Noah teaching Elio how to skip stones



mama and her four adventurers

The time was quickly approaching for high tide and we had not seen any signs of the horseshoe crabs so we decided to quickly head back to Slaughter Beach, the location we had tried the night before in Delaware.  This time it was a success! 

Elio had gotten a plastic horseshoe crab at the welcome center on Assateague and spent much of his time on the island and on Slaughter Beach crouched down playing with it.  The toy was a girl model but Elio was sure they just made it wrong and really it was a boy.

with headlamps so we can see on the beach, Elio playing with his of course

We ended up seeing a lot more horseshoe crabs this night than any prior.  What was different about this year was there were very few females and most of the females had several mates.  I wonder why this was.  I love the colors of the horseshoe crabs.  You'll see mottled brown and green and grayish blue.  In the image below the female is the dark brown crab partially buried in the sand.  She is laying hundreds of eggs deep in the sand, after which the males will fertilize them.

I was amazed at how deeply buried this female was.

After a male selects a female and attaches to her with his boxing glove claws, he tries his best to not let go until they are back in the ocean.  If they get flipped over by the waves and can't right themselves, he will still cling to her.  The following morning the beach is littered with dying horseshoe crabs, pointy tails sticking up in the air as if raising their hand to ask for help.  Last year we were able to walk the beach and help dozens of crabs back into the ocean.  This year we had to leave early to return home so we didn't get to do that fun part.  I guess there's always next year. 

a female, male and satellite male overturned in the surf, trying to right themselves