Hello everyone,
I observed horseshoe crabs for a school project this summer on Cape Cod I noticed a lack of horseshoe crabs. Does anyone know why this is? Does it have something to do with the water temperature?
I don’t know about new england but I have not seen any horseshoe crabs here in south carolina the whole year!
I definitely feel like you’re on to something. I’ve seen them in shallow New England waters recently but not nearly as often or in groups compared to 10-15 years ago in similar locations. I guess this could be a result of climate change? I know they lay their eggs on the shoreline, and less predictable tides could be doing something there.
Not sure but I have heard of overexploitation as a concern. They’re being used as bait since other sources are becoming harder to find. And there are also the impacts from the blood harvesting industry. I hope they recover their numbers. Things like the Red Knot depend on horseshoe crab eggs to sustain them during migration.
And then there is climate change, pollutants, habitat loss…
Thank you all for your input. I have started a project called Horseshoe Crabs Of Cape Cod to collect my findings on iNaturalist.
I’d like to think that a 480 million year old track record would make a strong case against human over-harvesting and habitat destruction.
Maybe it’s because of kids on the beach who think it’s fun to smash them with rocks.
Hello everyone I recently went back to a beach on the Cape that I often go to in the summer. I found around 10 horseshoe crabs washed ashore with a larger than normal tide.
another student observing organisms in Cape Cod, trying to figure out whether a change in a population of X is related to Y?
isn’t it quite interesting that that case also seems to be asking whether a change in a population of X is related to Y?
why did the iNatForum all of a sudden become such a popular destination to ask for answers to school assignments?
…
since we’re proposing relationships, i suspect that students working on school assignments would learn more if they spent less time asking random folks for help on an internet forum and more time actually doing research.
since you think that populations have to do with water temperatures, what was the temperature of the water when you found those 10 horseshoe crabs? what is the normal temperature of the water at the time?
all those times you went out and noticed a lack of horseshoe crabs and suspected water temperature, what was the water temperature each of those times?
If possible can you please have your instructor email Tony Iwane (that’s me, iNat’s Outreach and Community Coordinator) at help@inaturalist.org about this assignment? I’d just like to get a better idea of what the assignment is and why they asked you all to post to the Forum.
Perhaps it’s the teachers who need to do their own homework.
I really don’t want to blame teachers or students, and I don’t think it’s appropriate to put anyone down, especially since no one here knows the full story. The Forum Guidelines and Community Guidelines ask that we assume others mean well, so please stick to that and make posts that lead the discussion in a constructive direction.