Horseshoe Crabs

Oct 25, 2006
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There was a great show on Ch.12 last night about Red Knots (Plovers) and it spent quite a bite of time on the Horseshoe Crab who's eggs are a major source of food for the Red Knots. It will probably be shown again.

Steve

Indeed, but i wish they would have done the same for the weakfish years ago.

Jim
 

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
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Vicksburg, Michigan
What do the fishermen do with the horseshoe crabs? I never thought of them as an edible species. Interesting. You learn something new every day.

Edit: I actually READ the article this time and see that they are used for bait.
 

MarkBNJ

Piney
Jun 17, 2007
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Long Valley, NJ
www.markbetz.net
That was an extremely interesting episode of Nature. I had no idea the Red Knot migrated that far: Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic every season. It was also a fascinating look at the interconnections in nature that are often not immediately evident to researchers.

I did find the comment that a Delaware Bay waterman made interesting: if we're worried about the Red Knots having enough to eat, why not scatter food on the beaches?
 

dragoncjo

Piney
Aug 12, 2005
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camden county
That was a really interesting show.....a little sad, but interesting. I had no idea how important horseshoe crabs were to medical research.
 

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
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Vicksburg, Michigan
That was a really interesting show.....a little sad, but interesting. I had no idea how important horseshoe crabs were to medical research.

I've drawn blood from them (it's blue!) a few times. They have special blood cells that we used for testing for certain toxins in biological fluids. We drew blood and then put them back in the water. There's a company in Cape Cod that does that as a fulltime business! I'd totally love that job. :)
 

Sue Gremlin

Piney
Sep 13, 2005
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Vicksburg, Michigan
Well unfortunately the moratorium was rejected, http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802120370

I think it is almost a guarentee that these birds will be extinct by the end of this decade.....very sad. I know I'm going to try to go out and get some photos before they are.

That's sad. I would have loved to hear the arguments against. I see that they say they don't have the data that says the horseshoe crabs are the only reason the red knots are declining.

I hope we have not heard the last of this. I think I will do a little digging for the data and write a letter to the editor about this.
 
Oct 25, 2006
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That's sad. I would have loved to hear the arguments against. I see that they say they don't have the data that says the horseshoe crabs are the only reason the red knots are declining.

I hope we have not heard the last of this. I think I will do a little digging for the data and write a letter to the editor about this.

Sue

If your letter is answered by the editor, if you could share his or her reply it would be greatly appreciated.

Jim
 

NJTaco

New Member
Oct 18, 2006
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Galloway, NJ
A PBS special on the subject of Red Knots and Horseshoe Crabs. (Mentioned above)


LINK

And a bit about a trip Stockton College was/is involved in to study the Red Knots.

LINK
 
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