Come out of your shell: How to celebrate International Horseshoe Crab Day on Cape Cod
When was the last time you said "I love you" to a horseshoe crab? You'll have the perfect chance on June 20, when Cape Cod celebrates International Horseshoe Crab Day. Local organizations have scheduled a crab-load of activities and presentations to mark the occasion.
International Horseshoe Crab Day was established a few years ago by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a group composed of governmental, academic and other organizations, which bills itself as "the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it."
According to the IUCN website: "The world’s horseshoe crab populations are imperiled, because of overharvesting for use as food, bait and biomedical testing, and because of habitat loss from coastal reclamation and development. Shoreline alterations that are engineered to protect beaches from erosion and sea-level rise due to climate change also affect their spawning habitats."
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Mark Faherty, science coordinator at the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary said Cape horseshoe crab populations are under stress from these factors, though folks don't tend to use them for food here.
Beyond using horseshoe crabs for bait, "the biomedical industry uses the blood of horseshoe crabs to produce Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL), which is used to test medical equipment and supplies for bacteria that can make people sick," according to the state's Division of Marine Fisheries. Faherty said that most horseshoe crabs survive being caught, bled and released, but there is a mortality rate in the neighborhood of 15 to 30%.
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Challenges aside, Faherty said he has noticed that folks on Cape Cod have a real affinity for horseshoe crabs.
"Talk about timeless design," he said. "People love them."
That throwback, helmet-like appearance has been around for a very long time. According to the University of Rhode Island, "Atlantic horseshoe crabs are considered to be living fossils, and they are one of the most primitive arthropods. They have existed in their present form since the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago."
Read below for a list of events around Cape Cod — there's a lot going on!
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Cape Cod National Seashore
June 19, 2022, Celebrating Horseshoe Crabs at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, Eastham.
Rangers will join horseshoe crab educators Gary and Sharon Kreamer to share the life history and wonders of one of Earth’s most ancient and amazing animals. Drop in between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for hands-on activities. There will be an indoor illustrated program from 1 p.m. to 2 pm, and a walk to look for spawning crabs from 4 p.m. to 5 pm. Reservations are required for the free walk and may be made up to one week in advance by calling Salt Pond Visitor Center at (508) 255-3421, ext. 9.
June 20, 2022, Horseshoe Crab Science
Meet at 1 p.m. at East Harbor, off of High Head Road, Provincetown. Join Cape Cod National Seashore Aquatic Ecologist Sophia Fox and researchers from Antioch University for a look at what East Harbor’s restoration and reintroduction of salt water almost two decades ago have meant for horseshoe crabs and how the population is faring today. Wear shoes/boots that can get wet and muddy (scientists will also have some for borrowing). The event is scheduled to take one hour. No registration or reservation is necessary.
Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
June 17, 2022, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
International Horseshoe Crab Day Virtual Lecture: Horseshoe Crab Conservation on Cape Cod
Science Coordinator Faherty, who oversees Wellfleet Bay's annual horseshoe crab spawning surveys and mark and recapture program will present a talk on the basics of horseshoe crab biology and how humans use them, long-term research results and advocacy work, and recent events of interest in the biomedical use of horseshoe crabs. Free with registration required.
June 18, 2022, 10:30 a.m. to noon
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, 291 Route 6, South Wellfleet
In Search of Horseshoe Crabs: Tagging and Research at Wellfleet Bay
Wellfleet Bay will be highlighting the native Atlantic Horseshoe Crab, a species that dates back 400-million years but faces serious challenges today from habitat loss and growing pressure from human uses. Free, but registration is required. Please dress for the weather and wear shoes that can get wet and muddy and arrive and check-in 10 minutes before the start of the program. Contact wellfleet@massaudubon.org for more information.
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
869 Main Street (Route 6A), Brewster,
June 20, 2022
International Horseshoe Crab Day 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (free with museum admission)
Horseshoe Crab Kiosk: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Horseshoe Crab Feed: 11:30 a.m.
“Superheroes: Cape Cod Horseshoe Crabs” program with Brenda Boleyn: 1 p.m.
Paint a Horseshoe Crab!: 2 p.m under the tent
June 21 to June 24, 2022
Horseshoe Crab Kiosk: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Story Time: 10:15 a.m.
Auditorium Arts: 10:15 a.m.
Horseshoe Crab Feed: 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
June 23: 12:30 p.m.
Nature Screen: A special screening of Brewster native Allison Argo’s documentary film CRASH: A Tale of Two Species — Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knots. Free with museum admission.
Harwich Conservation Trust
National Horseshoe Crab Day Guided Beach Walk
June 20, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. (this walk is full, but another one may be scheduled). Visit the Harwich Conservation Trust website for updated information. Naturalist and horseshoe crab enthusiast Andrea Higgins shares facts about Limulus polyphemus on a Pleasant Bay stroll.
Contact Eric Williams at ewilliams@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @capecast.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod: How to celebrate International Horseshoe Crab Day
