“The air smelled so fishy,” said Pollock, “so I looked in the canal and there were dozens and dozens of these things floating in the water that looked like big brown balls.”
Those balls, were dead horseshoe crabs.
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program says a significant number of dead horseshoe crabs washed into a canal on 94th Street and alarmed many residents, but on the whole, there is nothing “fishy” going on, despite the smell.
This is spawning season for the ancient horseshoe crab, which is older than 99% of all species on the planet. During spawning, up to 10% of the population can die because the act of spawning is incredibly stressful to older horseshoe crabs. Since spawning occurs during full and new moon cycles, horseshoe crabs often get caught up in the tides and swept against sand bars or rip-rap, which can also cause death.
The tide cycles, and in some cases, wind can play a factor in transporting large numbers of dead horseshoe crabs into local canals or waterways, according to the Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP).
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1 comment:
When I was a kid back in the 40s we called them Peterhead crabs. They used to wash up on the beach dead every few feet this time of year. I imagine that since so much of the marsh has been replaced by bulkhead they don't spread across a wide swath of beach anymore they get channeled down these canals that have been built with the soul purpose of selling more "waterfront" property.
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