The horseshoe crabs are coming!
The Delaware Bay has long been the home to the largest concentration of spawning horseshoe crabs in the world, but this population has declined by 90% over the last 15 years because of over-harvesting and degraded habitat. The Friends of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge will host a free family event focusing on the arrival of thousands of these spawning horseshoe crabs on Delaware Bay beaches and the shorebirds that depend on their eggs to fuel their migration to the Arctic.
This free event, “Horseshoe Crab-a-Palooza,” will be held on May 3, 2015 from noon to 2 pm at the Refuge Headquarters, 24 Kimbles Beach Rd., Cape May Court House, 08210. The program will offer expert speakers, crafts for kids, and a walk on Kimbles Beach to watch for horseshoe crabs as they come ashore with the tide. Visitors will also learn how to become part of “ReTurn the Favor NJ,” a multi-partner program working to rescue overturned horseshoe crabs stranded on New Jersey’s Delaware Bay beaches.
The Friends of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge is a non-profit volunteer organization that promotes local community awareness and involvement with the Refuge. For more information, email info@friendsofcapemayrefuge.org.