Horseshoe Crab poster presentation

Spawning HSC

On April 5,2008, Wildlife Biologist Monica Williams, presented a poster at a Horseshoe Crab Conference held at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. The poster highlighted Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge's participation in a collaborative horseshoe crab research effort during 2000-2002 with the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Seventy-four horseshoe crab spawning surveys were conducted and approximately 1,400 horseshoe crabs were tagged on Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge during the study. During the conference, scientists and citizens came together to discuss horseshoe crab biology, commercial fisheries, the biomedical industry, and the current perils of Red Knots as a result of their ecological link to horseshoe crabs. Collaborative survey efforts will resume in 2008 to assess the horseshoe crab population in southern New England.