Thousands of tons of sand are being dumped on the Delaware Bay shoreline in a last-minute effort to restore beaches that were destroyed by superstorm Sandy but could now provide a lifeline for New Jersey’s most endangered shorebird.
Contractors are working to repair a 2.5-mile stretch of coast from Moore’s Beach south to Piece’s Point in Cape May County where the monster storm washed away the gently sloping sand that provided a haven for horseshoe crabs to lay their eggs -- a critical food source for the red knot.
Trucks and excavators began work in mid-March and will continue until April 24, when the crabs begin to come ashore for their annual spawning, a couple of weeks before the birds arrive on their epic migration from southern Argentina to breeding grounds in Arctic Canada.
Without refueling on the fatty crab eggs during their annual stopover, the birds won’t be able to complete their migration and may not be able to breed successfully, biologists say. That could further stress a population that has fallen to a critically low level because of the overharvesting of horseshoe crabs, a practice that is now banned in New Jersey in an attempt to save the birds.(Jon Hurdle)
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/...ged-shore-to-protect-rare-migratory-red-knot/
Contractors are working to repair a 2.5-mile stretch of coast from Moore’s Beach south to Piece’s Point in Cape May County where the monster storm washed away the gently sloping sand that provided a haven for horseshoe crabs to lay their eggs -- a critical food source for the red knot.
Trucks and excavators began work in mid-March and will continue until April 24, when the crabs begin to come ashore for their annual spawning, a couple of weeks before the birds arrive on their epic migration from southern Argentina to breeding grounds in Arctic Canada.
Without refueling on the fatty crab eggs during their annual stopover, the birds won’t be able to complete their migration and may not be able to breed successfully, biologists say. That could further stress a population that has fallen to a critically low level because of the overharvesting of horseshoe crabs, a practice that is now banned in New Jersey in an attempt to save the birds.(Jon Hurdle)
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/...ged-shore-to-protect-rare-migratory-red-knot/
