I got invited out here by a friend to watch the horseshoe crab spawning. Each year, horseshoe crabs come ashore by the thousands to spawn on the sandy beaches of the bays around Prime Hook around the full moon and new moons in May and June (for more information see: http://www.npr.org/2015/06/10/411563803/its-spawning-season-are-horseshoe-crabs-down-for-the-count). Researchers from all over the world travel to Delaware to observe this annual phenomenon. Meanwhile, I talked myself into going here.
Horseshoe crabs are not necessarily my favorite sea creatures based on looks. They are actually not crabs but more closely related to spiders and scorpions, and they are 350 million years old. When they are shell side up, they are ok, they just shuttle along the bottom of the water like little roomba vacuums of the sea.
Flip one over, and then you start getting into Alien vs. Predator looking sh%^ right here. Claws everywhere and a big gaping mouth surrounded by more claws. Let's just say this, horseshoe crabs swim shell side down using their claws as propellers, and if I would actually see this, I would run out of the water, keep in mind, I don't even leave the water when I see sharks. That's how much I live in fear of these harmless creatures, and it was time to face my fears.
So basically, this is how I pictured my trip out here to end:
http://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeek/files/2/53//alien-3-main.jpg
In the end, it wasn't that bad.
Prime Hook is a beautiful area. We decided to spend a few hours hiking before the sun would set and the beach would turn into a crab version of Seacrets. I am not a 100% sure I would recommend Prime Hook as a go to hiking destination. If you're in the area, sure stop by and take a walk but it's hard to spend a day here hiking. It's more for birdwatching/fishing/photography etc.
Many of the trails and loops are short and most of the trails are through long grass. I did catch some amazing scenery cause you walk through swamp lands, marches, forests and fields and see tons of frogs and birds and it's almost surreal. The problem is the hiking through the tall grass during summer is that turns into a million tick march. Several members of our party had ticks on them frequently even those with long pants that used bug spray, I had stupidly forgotten my spray with deet so I grabbed some extra treated dog collars and tied it to my ankle. It worked though, I was the only one without ticks. I'll probably have some three eyed babies as a result, but hey I got no ticks to hold me down.
Now onto the beach area, we headed to Slaughter Beach on Prime Hook to catch the sex on the beach. Not much to report there, except basically there are hundreds of them and they mate in groups. A bunch of male crabs jump on the women crabs and she drags them to the beach to lay eggs. I was fine since they were shell side up, but then we stumbled upon a group on their backs. Given that we were there during a lightning and thunder storm and now there were about 5 crabs attached on their backs in the dark, I may have stressed. Basically my friend told me I screamed "Bye Felicia" and ran back with the only flashlight to the car. So yeah, I got this fear of horseshoe crab thing kicked.
Can't wait to come back next year. read more