The Connecticut Post featured the Ash Creek Conservation Association's volunteer work in the Project Limulus study on the front page of the Sunday paper on June 15, 2008 with full color photographs.  The article was called, "In Search of the Horseshoe Crab: Study Tracks Smaller Numbers" by Genevieve Reilly, Staff Writer, with a subtitle of "Volunteers help find sea creature, prevent demise". 

To see complete article go to www.connpost.com

"Roger Ludwig notices indentations in the sand bordering Ash Creek. It's early on a recent Sunday morning, but the sun is already warm, and Ludwig's 8-year-old son, Tucker, dashes on ahead.

"Do you think we'll see any?" Tucker calls over his shoulder.

Ludwig said he hopes so, and those indentations are a good sign that horseshoe crabs have been in the area and mating.

They meet with Kraig Steffan who, in short order, is wading into the water separating Fairfield and Bridgeport.

Steffan has spotted some of their quarry.

He brings a horseshoe crab to shore, where he and Ludwig punch a small hole into the shell. "It doesn't hurt," Steffan reassures, as a small white tag is attached to the prehistoric-looking creature. Ludwig and Steffan, both members of the Ash Creek Conservation Association, measure the crab, determine its sex, and pinpoint where it was found. They jot down all the information on a sheet attached to a clipboard.

The horseshoe crab then is released back into the water and the three continue their trek around the point, looking for more.

"There's been a lot of activity here," Ludwig said. "I'm happy to see that."

He scans the water. "There's one," Ludwig says, pointing out a location not too far from shore. "Or is it a rock?"

Steffan wades out. "It's a rock," he replies.

They've found only two horseshoe crabs to tag this morning, but they'll be out again several times over the next week.

The tags affixed to the crabs have a phone number for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, asking anyone who finds one to call so the crab can be tracked.

Steffan and Ludwig are on this tagging mission because the Ash Creek group has joined the Project Limulus study led by Sacred Heart University professors Jennifer Mattei and Mark Beekey.

Horseshoe crab "numbers are plummeting and so are the migratory birds that feed on their eggs," Ludwig said. "The main thing we're doing is tagging them and trying to find out their pattern. Some we know go all the way up to Massachusetts."

The horseshoe crabs lay their eggs about 5 inches below the sand's surface, and many float free and are eaten by birds and fish.

They are also used as bait to catch American eel and whelk — large snails — in Long Island Sound.

The last published study of horseshoe crabs in Long Island Sound was done in 1957.

Beekey said the tagging study has been going on for the last 10 years at a limited number of places, but with the help of groups like the Ash Creek Conservation Association, the study's scope has been expanded.

"These groups are invaluable to us," he said.

A spawning survey, counting the horseshoe crabs, was added to the study on two days before, two days after and the day of a new moon during May, June and early July.

"The census will continue indefinitely, we hope," Beekey said, "as long as the volunteers stay with us."

He said he and Mattei will receive a report on the number of "recaptured" tagged horseshoe crabs.

For Ludwig, volunteering to help is not a big deal.

"I'm just a naturalist," he said. "I spend a lot of time in the creek, and I've always been curious."

Ludwig voices some concern, though.

"I've lived here for 10 years," he said of his home across from the St. Mary's-by-the-Sea seawall. "It's gone from where you would see hundreds of pairs [of horseshoe crabs] breeding on the beach to practically nothing the numbers are dipping precipitously."

Lose the horseshoe crabs, Ludwig said, and then there will be fewer of the birds that feed on them.

"You lose them, you lose a lot," he said."

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS:  Roger Ludwig, a member of the Ash Creek Conservation Association, pulls a horseshoe crab out of Ash Creek in order to tag it in an effort to study the declining population of the animals in the area. (Jesse Neider/Staff photographer ) 

More photos at:

http://www.connpost.com/ci_9589916?IADID=Search-www.connpost.com-www.con...

If you find a horseshoe crab that has been tagged...

If you are walking along the shore and come across a horseshoe crab, look for a tag.  It could be a white disc from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Or it could be a yellow band from Sacred Heart University.  Both have phone numbers to call, and you are urged to pick up the phone immediately to assist in their efforts to monitor the species.  If the creature is still alive, you are asked to return it to the water.

When you call...

Report the tag numberSay whwere and when you found it Specify whether the horseshoe crab was dead or alive

To learn more...

Read our previous post at:

http://www.blackrockonline.org/project-limulus-spawning-surveys

Bookmark/Search this post with: