2015 Project Limulus Horseshoe Crab Spawning Survey Summary for Guilford,CT

Greetings to all MAS supporters and Project Limulus volunteers,

Here is my annual summary of the 2015 Project Limulus Survey Sessions. Our horseshoe crab surveys began on May 1st and ended on June 18th.

We weregiven 150 tags by the Sacred Heart Project Limulus professors. We were easily able to use them all and we could have used more but they were not available. All of the crabs tagged this year were found in Indian Cove or at Cha

ffinch Island Park.

The Project Limulus volunteers surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove in Guilford a total of 14 times. The surveys are conducted around the time of the full moon and the new moon and always begin at high tide. The standardized surveys are always done in Indian Cove but tagging can be done at any of the Guilford beaches.

The total number of crabs counted during the standardized surveys was 108. Last year the total counted was 174 but that number included one night when we counted 97 crabs! Finding that many in one night was highly unusual and I believe it inflated our average number of crabs per survey found that year. The average number of crabs found per survey for the last 6 years is as follows:

2010 - 6.5 crabs per survey
2011- 7.1 crabs per survey
2012 - 7.8 crabs per survey
2013 - 3.06 crabs per survey
2014 - 10.24 crabs per survey
2015 - 7.1 crabs per survey

My unscientific guess is that storms Irene and Sandy had something to do with the low average number of crabs found in 2013. With the exception of 2013 and 2014, the horseshoe crab population in Indian Cove seems to be fairly stable.

Recaptures are crabs which have already been tagged. We record their tag numbers in our data. Our recapture totals have been declining over the past 4 years but we don’t know why. This year we only found 20. If you find a horseshoe crab and it has a tag, please record the I.D. number and call the phone number on the tag to report it. Please make note of the date and where you found it. Dead crabs with tags are important to report as well.

I am sincerely grateful to all of the people who were able to help this year. I am fortunate to have such an awesome group of volunteers!

Best regards, 
Judy Knowles 

Horseshoe Crab Numbers Increase in Project Limulus Survey

Judy Knowles Reports

Last year there was a significant drop in the number of crabs counted during the standardized survey. The average number of crabs was less than half of what it was in 2010, 2011, and 2012. During those three years the average number of crabs counted was 7.13; last year the average was 3.06 crabs per survey. This year our average was up to 10.24 crabs per survey! This is a huge increase and I am cautiously optimistic. The reason for my caution is that we had one night survey on May 30 when the group counted an unusually large number of crabs during the survey, a total of 97 between the two beaches. We have never counted that many during a survey before! That one night made our average for the season much higher than it would have been had we not gone out to the beaches that night.

The 2014 survey season began on May 12 and ended on June 29. The Project Limulus volunteers surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove a total of 17 times. Tags were in short supply for Sacred Heart’s Project Limulus and we were only given 100 tags. We didn’t have enough tags for individual taggers this year. All of the crabs were tagged by the group in Indian Cove with the exception of 2 crabs from Joshua Cove (Trolley Rd.), which volunteer Ann Delaney and I tagged when we took them to visit the first and second grades at Kasimir Pulaski Elementary School in Meriden. We used all 100 tags and we could have used more had they been available.

The total number of crabs counted this year was 174. Last year the total was 49.

Recaptures are crabs which are already tagged. Our recapture total was low this year with only 10 recaptures compared to 34 last year. This is puzzling and I have no guess as to why this happened.

My subjective opinion is that we did see more crabs this year, both during the day and night surveys. Let’s hope that this trend continues next year.

I would like to thank all of the volunteers for their enthusiasm and dedication. I would not be able to continue to do this study without your support and encouragement.

(Reprinted from September 2014 Newsletter.)

The Atlantic Flyway

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. 

The rufa red knot is an extraordinary bird that each year migrates thousands of miles from the Arctic to the tip of South America and back, but – like many shorebirds – it is vulnerable to climate and other environmental changes,. In some areas, knot populations have declined by about 75 percent since the 1980s, with the steepest declines happening after 2000.

Service biologists determined that the knot meets the definition of threatened, meaning it is likely to become in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The knot uses spring and fall stopover areas along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Changing climate conditions are already affecting the bird’s food supply, the timing of its migration, and its breeding habitat in the Arctic.

A primary factor in the recent decline of the species was reduced food supplies in Delaware Bay due to commercial harvest of horseshoe crabs. In 2012, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission adopted a management plan that explicitly ties horseshoe crab harvest levels along the Atlantic Coast to knot recovery targets.

Audubon has listed the red knot as one of 83 priority species that are the targets of it conservation strategies.

The PBS Nature episode Crash: A Tale of Two Species explores the fragile connection between horseshoe crabs and red knots. Watch it online at goo.gl/LvkKS9.

(From the November, 2013 Newsletter)

Project Limulus 2013 Season

2013 was Menunkatuck Audubon's fifth year of volunteering for Sacred Heart University's Project Limulus.  It was another disappointing season for finding horseshoe crabs in Guilford.  There seemed to be even less on our beaches than last year.  The number of crabs counted during the surveys had been fairly consistent over the past 3 years but this year that number dropped by more than half.  According to the DEEP, the horseshoe crab population in Long Island Sound is stable, but we saw a significant change on the 2 beaches we survey in Guilford.

The 2013 survey period began on May 8th.and ended on June 25th.  Our Project Limulus team surveyed the 2 beaches at Indian Cove a total of 16 times and counted a total of 49 crabs.  We had to cancel more surveys than usual this year due to inclement weather and holidays.

150 crabs were tagged at the following Guilford beaches:  Indian Cove Public Beach, Indian Cove Private Beach, Shell Beach,Joshua Cove, Chaffinch Island, and Grass Island.

We found 34 recaptures.  Recaptures are crabs which have been previously tagged.

I would like to thank the volunteers who helped with the project at all hours of the day and night, in all kinds of weather.  This study could not be done without you.

                                             2010                     2011                  2012                   2013            

Total crabs tagged-            370                       975                     240                     150

Total recaptures-                  26                        262                       61                       34

                                             2010                    2011                   2012                   2013

Total crabs counted 

during surveys -                   151                      171                     165                       49




Total number of 
surveys conducted           2010                   2011                   2012                   2013

                                                  23                       24                        21                       16


Average number               2010                   2011                   2012                   2013 
of crabs per 
survey                                     6.5                       7.1                      7.8                       3.0


       

Project Limulus: 2012 Horseshoe Crab Population Survey Summary

I am sorry to report that it was a disappointing spring for Menunkatuck’s Project Limulus  volunteers, especially after last year when we tagged 975 crabs.  Our total tagged for this year was only 240.  The crabs just weren’t there!  This would have been of greater concern to us had we not learned that Short Beach in Branford was crawling with them!  Heather Smiarowski, a Beach Captain for The Branford Land Trust, reported that they almost had more crabs than they could handle.  I wondered if Guilford’s lack of crabs could have been due to reconfiguration of the bottom of the Sound caused by Hurricane Irene.  I asked Dr. Mark Beekey, one of the Sacred Heart professors in charge of Project Limulus, and he said that it is not unusual for the crabs to show up in an area one year and then go somewhere else the next year.  We don’t know why this happens. Finding answers to questions like this is one of the reasons we are doing the study.

Recapture numbers were considerably less in Guilford as well.  A recapture is a crab which has already been tagged.  We found only 61 recaptures compared to 262 found last year.

Guilford’s Project Limulus team surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove a total of 21 times.  We also met on two extra days for tagging only.  Crabs were tagged at the following Guilford beaches: Indian Cove Public, Indian Cove Private, Shell Beach, Joshua Cove, and Grass Island.  Our 2012 survey period began on May 3rd. and ended on July 1st.  We found the greatest number of crabs on May18th.  It is interesting to note that horseshoe crabs were sighted by volunteers as early as April 15th.   This was approximately one month earlier than the past 3 years and was probably related to the mild winter and warmer than average spring temperatures.  One hypotheses to explain our lower crab numbers this year was that we had missed a couple of weeks of tagging because the tags weren’t available until the beginning of May.  This idea, however, seemed to be negated by the fact that Branford continued to find large numbers of crabs throughout May and June. 

I think it is also interesting to note that during the actual beach surveys, which follow a prescribed protocol according to specific dates and tides, the number of crabs counted,(165), was not significantly different from last year’s count of 171.  I don’t know how to explain this.  All of my seasoned volunteers agreed that we really did see less crabs this year. 

New this year, were two visits to local schools.  Accompanied by a pair of live horseshoe crabs,my husband, Vaughn, and I gave presentations about Project Limulus to the students at the King-Robinson Magnet School in New Haven and at Rockville High School in Vernon.  It was great to see the students "getting up close and personal" with the horseshoe crabs! 

  

I can’t say thank you enough to my great team of volunteers for their time, enthusiasm, and dedication.  Here’s hoping that the crabs will decide to come back to Guilford next year!   I look forward to seeing you then.

We are always happy to have new volunteers.  If you are interested, please contact judy@menunkatuck.org.  For more information about Project Limulus, go to info@projectlimulus.org. 

                                       2010                     2011                  2012

Total crabs tagged-       370                       975                    240

Total recaptures-             26                        262                      61

                                        2010                    2011                  2012

Total crabs counted 

during surveys -              151                      171                    165                   

2010

Indian Cove Public Beach              Indian Cove Private Beach    

Single males-4                                  Single males-13

Single females-1                               Single females- 4

Pairs-30                                              Pairs-19

Female with 2 males-2                    Female with 2 males-3

Female with 3 males-0                    Female with 3 males-4

Total crabs-71                                   Total crabs-80

2011

Single males-19                              Single males-6

Single females-9                             Single females-1

Pairs-41                                            Pairs-13

Female with 2 males-7                  Female with 2 males-1

Female with 3 males-1                  Female with 3 males-0                                                                                                                 Total crabs-135                               Total crabs-36

                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                      

2012

Single males-15                               Single males-7

Single females-4                              Single females-3

Pairs-27                                             Pairs-31                      

Female with 2 males-5                   Female with 2 males-0

Female with 3 males-0                   Female with 3 males-0

Females with 4 males-1                 Female with 4 males-0

Total crabs-93                                  Total crabs-72

It was an exciting and astonishing season for the Menunkatuck Project Limulus team. Last year we tagged a total of 370 horseshoe crabs, so when Professor Mark Beekey of Sacred Heart University asked me how many tags I thought I could use this year, I optimistically said 600. Little did I know that I would have to request more tags twice during the season. We ended up tagging a grand total of 975 crabs!

One may conclude from this information that there were more crabs at our beaches this year. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. One reason for the increase in numbers tagged was having more independent taggers this year than last year. Another reason was the extra days the group spent on the beaches during the peak of the spawning season. Between May 25th. and May 28th. we tagged 281 crabs. These were not regular survey days. A third reason why we tagged more crabs was because we had more well trained volunteers this year who were able to tag the crabs as we counted them during the survey of the beach.

Guilfordʼs Project Limulus team surveyed the two beaches at Indian Cove 24 times between May 1st. and July 1st. We also assembled at the Cove beaches 5 extra times for tagging only. We had 8 independent taggers who covered most of the beaches in Guilford. We were more likely to find crabs during the day this year than last year, but we continued to find the most at night. We counted the first crabs of the season on May 15th. The peak of the season was May 27th., when we tagged 110 in one night.

Here is the final data for the 2011 horseshoe crab spawning season:

We counted a total of 171 crabs during the 24 standardized surveys conducted at the 2 Indian Cove beaches. We tagged a total of 975 crabs at Guilford beaches including Indian Cove, Joshua Cove, Shell Beach, Chittenden Beach, Jacobs Beach, and Grass Island. We recorded 262 recaptures (crabs which have been previously tagged). Last year we only found 26 recaptures!

I am grateful to the 40 plus active volunteers for their help and enthusiasm. It was a very successful season and we had a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing all of you next year.

We are always happy to have new volunteers. If you are interested, please contact

judy@menunkatuck.org. For more information about Project Limulus, go to info@projectlimulus.org.

Total crabs tagged in 2010- 370

Total crabs tagged in 2011- 975

Total recaptures in 2010- 26

Total recaptures in 2011- 262

Total crabs counted during surveys in 2010- 151

Total crabs counted during surveys in 2011- 171

2010 Indian Cove Public Beach

Single males-4

Single females-1

Pairs-30

Female with 2 males-2

Female with 3 males-0

Total crabs-71

2011

Single males-19

Single females-9

Pairs-41

Female with 2 males-7

Female with 3 males-1

Total crabs-135

2010 Indian Cove Private Beach

Single males-13

Single females- 4

Pairs-19

Female with 2 males-3

Female with 3 males-4

Total crabs-80

2011

Single males-6

Single females-1

Pairs-13

Female with 2 males-1

Female with 3 males-0

Total crabs-36

Total crabs counted- 36

Judy Knowles Talks about Horseshoe Crabs on WPKN

Menunkatuck's Project Limulus coordinator Judy Knowles was interviewed about the horseshoe crab research study on WPKN this afternoon. The interview is archived at http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/20959 and begins at about 15 minutes.

Project Limulus Update

Here is the final data for the 2010 horseshoe crab spawning season:

We surveyed 2 beaches in Indian Cove, Guilford, CT. We did the survey a total of 27 times during April, May, June, and July. We counted a total of 151 crabs.

Indian Cove Public Beach:

Single males- 4

Single females-1

Pairs- 30

Female with 2 males- 2

Female with 3 males- 0

Total crabs- 71

Indian Cove Private Beach:

Single males- 13

Single females- 4

Pairs- 19

Female with 2 males- 3

Female with 3 males- 4

Total crabs- 80

We counted the most crabs on the night of May 25th. during the full moon. The peak of the spawning season was May 25th. through May 29th.

Our volunteer group tagged a total of 370 crabs. 130 crabs were tagged in Indian Cove and the rest were tagged at Great Harbor, Jacobs Beach, Grass Island, Tuttles Point,Chaffinch Island, and Chittenden Park.

We reported 26 recaptures ( crabs which have been previously tagged ). One of the most interesting ones was found by Nina Ellison. It was a male which had been tagged in VA in 1999.

Thanks again to all of the Project Limulus volunteers. I will contact everyone in the spring. Now that we have such a dedicated and well-trained team, I'm looking forward to tagging even more crabs next year. I would like to try adding some extra sessions which would be just for tagging crabs at other Guilford beaches.

Project Limulus Update

Another horseshoe crab spawning season has come to an end. You may still see an occasional crab cruising around at the beach, but the crab " love fests " of May and June are now just a memory.

Survey period number five began on June 24th. On a glorious morning full of sun and sea, we were joined by a girl scout troop, and Camden and Justin Blumberg, ages 8 and 6, respectively. They are the youngest members of our team. The kids quickly learned the survey protocol, manning the ropes and recording the data like old pros. We didn't find any crabs during the survey but I had found one earlier, a large female. They all got to hold her and I got to share all of the wonderful things I have learned about horseshoe crabs. Shane Gallimore, a high school student, who was also doing the survey for the first time, got to tag and release her back into the Cove.

No crabs were counted during the June 26th. surveys. However, thanks to a suggestion from Project Limulus team members Stephanie Donaldson and Mary Heffernan, we did take part in an environmentally important event called " Hands Across the Sands". It was an international peaceful gathering to oppose off-shore drilling and support clean energy. Most of the Indian Cove beach-goers joined us in this show of support. Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer for the Guilford Courier, wrote an article for the July 8th, edition. She included a photo by by Stephanie Donaldson. It was just one of many cool things which have happened as a result of my involvement with Project Limulus and Audubon. ( To access the article, go to zip06.com/guilford ).

That night, Lesley Orlowski,Lauren Orlowski, and Tom Kelly took over the 11:30 p.m. survey so I could have a night off. They tagged 4 crabs. Thanks guys!

No crabs were seen during the daytime survey on June 28th. and the 12:30 a.m. survey was cancelled due to the weather, the late hour, and the lack of crabs.

We did the survey two more times, on July 9th. at night and July 11th. in the morning. As we expected, there were no crabs. This officially ended our 2010 survey. I got busy sending data to Mark Beekey at Sacred Heart University. I want to congratulate my taggers; Jim Murtaugh, Lorrie and Terry Shaw, Melanie Tolley, Tom Kelly, Ann Delaney, and Katie Day for promptly returning their data and extra tags. Mark Beekey said we were the first team to have all of our tagging data in and tags accounted for.

In my next blog I will present a breakdown of the data for the year. Thank you so much to all the volunteers for your time and dedication. It has truly been a pleasure working with you and getting to know you.

Project Limulus Update

Our fourth crab census began on June 10th., during the new moon. No horseshoe crabs were seen during the morning survey. At the 10:00 p.m. survey we counted only one crab. The crabs began to appear after the survey, which is often the case. We were able to tag 8 and we had two recaptures. Recaptures are crabs which have been previously tagged.

On Saturday, June 12th., Project Limulus volunteer, Nina Ellison graciously agreed to be in charge of the morning survey. She and the rest of the very competent team conducted the survey and again found no crabs. That night we only counted one pair, and tagged 4. It seems that we are now past the peak time for spawning.

On Monday, June 14th., the a.m. survey yielded nothing, as usual. The crabs in Indian Cove are definitely creatures of the night! Amy Hopkins took charge of the 1:10 a.m. survey, giving Vaughn and me the night off to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Thank you Amy, Leigh, Katie, and Nina for coming out to count crabs in middle of the night. That is true dedication! They had success, counting 10 crabs, tagging 6, and finding 3 recaptures.

Project Limulus

Jim Murtagh's photos of horseshoe crab tagging.

Project Limulus Update

It has been a busy week for the counters and taggers of Indian Cove! We began our third survey session on May 25th. We didn't see any crabs during the day but that night they were everywhere. The water was murky, with zero visibility, but we could feel the crabs with our feet as we walked through the water, surveying the beach. We would then reach into the water to touch the crabs to determine whether they were singles or pairs. We even found females who had two mates. It was like a treasure hunt and everyone was pretty excited. We counted a grand total of 89 crabs! We also tagged 13 crabs, which doesn't seem like very many but we have a rule that we don't disturb any pairs which are buried in the sand. That's an indication that they are busy laying and fertilizing their eggs. We found 4 crabs which had been previously tagged elsewhere. We call these recaptures. It's a very important part of the study to report any recaptures. It gives the researchers information about where the crab has been and about it's condition and longevity. If you find a crab with a tag you should call the phone number on the tag and report the tag i.d. number, the date , and the location where you found it.

On Thursday morning, May 27th, we again found no crabs. On Thursday night I was all set to head out with the group when I received a request from Menunkatuck to join fellow board members, Shannon Schiesser and Jim Murtaugh for a filming of Scott Tucker's cable access program, Expedition New England. My husband, Vaughn, said he would fill in for me at the Cove survey, so I met the others at Circle Beach in Madison at 11:45 p.m. I met Scott, his daughter Daphne, his friend Ron, and Ron's son Jerome. We found plenty of crabs, tagged a few, had fun looking for them, and enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous full moon. I'll let you know when the show is supposed to air. The Indian Cove group did beautifully without me, counting 28 crabs, tagging 16, and recording 1 recapture.

Saturday, May 29th was the final day of the full moon session. Still no crabs during the day. They really do like the nighttime better and who can blame them; a quiet beach, moonlight reflecting on the water, it's pretty romantic! We had a large group on Sat. afternoon, including a number of kids, which was great. We were sad to find a dead female crab but she did make it possible for us to have tagging practice. Everyone who wanted to try tagging a crab was able to do it. All of the kids got a chance to tag and to hold her and I got to tell them all of the "cool stuff" about horseshoe crabs. That night we met at 12:40 a.m. Kudos to all of the volunteers who were able to stay awake until then! We only found 6 crabs during the survey but we tagged 26 afterwards. That's the most we've tagged at the Cove so far. There were 6 recaptures.

Some of our team members are tagging on their own as well. Jim Murtaugh and his daughter, Eryn, Lorrie Shaw,and Sue Coale have tagged over 100 crabs at Trolley Rd. beach. Melanie Tolley has tagged 25 or more at Grass Island and Ann Delaney has tagged as many at Indian Cove.

Our team has grown to over 40 members. It's a wonderful group of dedicated and interesting people. I'm delighted to see how smoothly they can now do the survey and tagging with out me. Maybe I should take a vacation....

Project Limulus Update

Since my last blog post, so much has transpired. Thanks to the article in the Guilford Courier and a most enjoyable and informative presentation about Project Limulus by Professor Mark Beekey of Sacred Heart University, our team now has 34 new members!

We conducted our survey on Guilford's Indian Cove beaches, twice a day on May 11th, May 13th, and May 15th. This survey period coincided with the new moon. We met just before the high tide; during the day and again at night. Although we didn't see any crabs on the first two days, the volunteers were wonderfully enthusiastic, and interested in learning the survey protocol.

On the third day, Saturday, May 15th, we met at 12:30 in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day at the beach but there were still no crabs to be seen! Then on Saturday night, at about 1:00 a.m., a group of 9 "night owls" gathered on the dark, moonless beach, and there were the crabs! They were serenely doing what nature had programed them to do every spring for over 400 million years. We tagged 7 crabs and counted 16 altogether.

Our next survey session begins on May 25th, during the full moon. We're hoping for good weather and many more close encounters of the "crabby" kind.

Judy Knowles in Guilford Courier

Here's the link to the article about Judy Knowles and Project Limulus.

Project Limulus Update

This was a good week for the Menunkatuck Project Limulus team. Ned, Melanie, Vaughn, and I managed to get out on the beach to do the survey twice. We didn't expect to find any crabs yet because it's still very early in the season, so we were surprised when we spotted a horseshoe crab at the water's edge. We made note of him on our data sheet and then took him further out into the water to release him. ( We would have tagged him also, but we didn't have our tags yet. ) Unfortunately, he didn't seem well because he couldn't unfold his shell, couldn't walk, and he kept tipping over onto his back. Among the other mollusks which were living on his shell, were some good sized blue mussels. We wondered if he was an elderly crab, coming into the beach to die.

On Wednesday, April 28, Melanie, Ned, Vaughn, and I went to a planning meeting for Project Limulus at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. Jennifer Mattei and Mark Beekey ( Sacred Heart professors in charge of the study ) spoke with us about the data they have collected so far and the plan for the study this year. There were 11,000 crabs tagged in 2009, many by volunteers like us!

The best thing that happened for the horseshoe crabs this week was that Pam Johnson, Senior Staff Writer for the Guilford Courier, wrote a wonderful article about Project Limulus. The timing was perfect to publicize our need for more volunteers and also the upcoming presentation all about horseshoe crabs and Project Limulus. For info. on the May 7th program, please refer to Menunkauck's Home Page. If you would like to read the article from the Guilford Courier, go to www.zip06.com, then select Guilford.

My team members and I are looking forward to the next survey period which will be May 11th through May 15th. We're delighted that we'll have 3 new volunteers joining us at that time. I have also just received several inquiries as a result of the newspaper article. Yay! The more the merrier!

Project Limulus Update

It's Spring again! The time when one's thoughts turn to .... horseshoe crabs! Beginning on April 26th we will again be counting and tagging spawning horseshoe crabs on the Guilford beaches. This is part of an ongoing study being conducted by Sacred Heart University to assess the health and stability of the horseshoe crab population in Long Island Sound.

We are looking for volunteers, also known as citizen scientists, to help with this study. You don't have to make a commitment; it doesn't have to involve a lot of time. It's easy! We'll show you what to do. All ages are welcome. Come have fun with us on the beach and get up close and personal with a living fossil; the horseshoe crab.

If you would like to volunteer or if you have any questions, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053 or e-mail me at judy@menunkatuck.org. For more information about Project Limulus go to www.projectlimulus.org

Project Limulus Update

On Sunday night, June 7th, at 11:30 p.m., our team, consisting of myself, Ned Macomb, and my ever-willing-to-help husband, Vaughn Knowles, assembled at the Indian Cove Beaches in Guilford to count and tag spawning horseshoe crabs.  Apparently, love was in the air because we counted 44 horseshoe crabs and tagged 22 before running out of tags.  When we headed home to our beds at 1:15 a.m., wet, sandy, and elated, we agreed that a good time was had by all!

If you are interested in joining our survey team or starting your own at a different beach, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053. 

Project Limulus Training

Cindi Kobak writes:

Project Limulus has come to Guilford! Two Sacred Heart University students joined Menunkatuck volunteers on a Guilford beach at high tide one evening to train us on the proper way to tag a horseshoe crab. In the span of less than an hour, five horseshoe crabs appeared in the surf and were collected for tagging. Two were large, egg-laden females, one of which already had a smaller male clasping her. Volunteers were given tags and data sheets and will be visiting beaches over the summer months to tag and document the presence of these living fossils. For more information on Project Limulus, visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pages/13692_project_limulus.cfm.

If you are interested in volunteering to tag horseshoe crabs in Guilford this summer, please contact Judy Knowles at 203-453-9053 or covelovers2@aol.co