Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

The horseshoe crab is an animal that most people have neither seen, nor even heard about. With their sharp tail, spiny legs, and hard shell, they resemble something out of a science fiction movie. However, these marine arthropods have actually been living for over 450 million years, more than 200 million years before the dinosaurs! While ancient in their appearance and history, today these creatures are more important to the Earth's coastal ecosystems than one might expect.

From late May to June, horseshoe crabs come to mate at beaches in North America and Asia. They travel to shallow coasts and climb onto the shore, where the females lay thousands of eggs at a time. A male can latch on to a female to fertilize her eggs, and this happens multiple times for each arthropod. By the end of the breeding season, a single female can lay up to 120,000 eggs.

Clearly, the horseshoe crabs spend lots of energy and time producing excess eggs, when only a fraction of them will grow and develop into healthy adults. However, these extra eggs are still absolutely vital to the ecosystem. Hundreds of species of birds, such as the red knot, migrate north during the same time as the horseshoe crab breeding season, and make "pit stops" at beaches to refuel and rest. One important source of food for these shore birds, if not the most essential, is the hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crab eggs scattering the beach. Without this source of energy, these birds could not survive their migrations.

There is just one problem. With humans' fishing line, cans, plastic, and other garbage littering the beach, the horseshoe crabs can ingest or become tangled in the trash. The shore birds, and other native species like fish or terrapins, can also fall victim to these artificial traps. It doesn't stop there. Abandoned wood filled with nails and holes, concrete slabs meters across, enormous strips of sharp, rusty metal, and crumbling walls and rocks near the beaches trap horseshoe crabs trying to mate or lay their eggs. Even an old boat dock could leave a horseshoe crab stranded. With these man made obstacles killing the crabs and preventing them from laying their eggs, both their own species and that of hundreds of shorebirds are in jeopardy.

After learning in my school environmental club about the importance of the horseshoe crab species and the danger that they are in, I decided to take action and help save the ecosystem. Luckily, one of the most popular horseshoe crab breeding locations is at New Jersey's coastline along the Delaware Bay, which is only an hour and a half's drive from where I live. With the accompaniment of my parents and younger brother, who agreed to help me with the rescue mission, I drove to one of the Delaware Bay beaches.

As soon as we arrived at Fortesque Beach, it was evident that our work was cut out for us. Horseshoe crabs both alive and dead covered the area, and many were mating right before our eyes. Their eggs covered the ground in the hundreds of thousands. We immediately got to work flipping the horseshoe crabs that had been turned upside down. Their legs are small enough to be contained within their shell, so they have no way to flip themselves over if they are upside down; this could lead to dehydration, overheating, or death. Some horseshoe crabs were found stranded in between two large rocks or behind tall grass, where they may have been swimming when the tide was high, but became caught when the tide was low. These naturally trapped crabs were quickly saved, but it was far from the end of the rescue.

All along the beach, enormous slabs of cement and asphalt had been placed to prevent erosion and help the home-owners along the coast. They were long, flat, and multiple meters wide. Huge cracks from the constant tumult of waves left the slabs slicking up diagonally into the air and overlapping each other in irregular patterns. It was a disaster. While unnoticeable at first, it soon became clear that 5 to 10 still living horseshoe crabs were caught under each and every broken piece of cement. It took my entire family to help lift up a slab just high enough for one of us to dig out trapped horseshoe crabs from underneath. Within the first 20 minutes, we were all completely covered with sand, salt water, and mud.

Hours passed as we worked tirelessly to locate stranded horseshoe crabs. Some were buried under wooden planks in the sand, while others were caught between metal wiring running through the cinder blocks. Some were found in rocks under piles of nails and litter, and still others had become entangled in fishing line or the strong fabric under the cement. Abandoned pipes, metal scraps, and crumbling walls at the edge of the beach all could trap a horseshoe crab.

By the end of the long and tiring day, as well as after three other visits my family and I made to the Delaware Bay beaches later this summer, it only became clearer how much of an impact humans can have, both negatively and positively, on an ecosystem. It seems people are oblivious to how their actions affect the lives of some of Earth's most amazing species. Or, even if they are aware, they don't care enough. What many people don't realize is the chain reaction that makes up every ecosystem on Earth. When humans build cinder block walls or dump their trash onto beaches, it becomes a trap for horseshoe crabs, fish, and other animals. My family and I even saved 12 baby terrapin turtles on one of our visits in early July. When these animals die, there is less food for migrating shore birds. Then, less shore birds yields less of their predators. The cycle continues, throwing nature out of balance and destroying ecosystems if it goes too far.

This is why the people who care, and who are educated on this important issue, need to step in and help. My family alone saved over one thousand lives between our four visits to the beach, not to mention the thousands more who were indirectly saved through the ecosystem's "chain reaction". Plus, this same reaction isn't just in the environment. During the second trip to the beach, a young girl was watching us transport horseshoe crabs from in between cement slabs back to the water. She stared for a few minutes, before whispering to her mom that the crabs looked scary. My brother and I called her over, and let her release a horseshoe crab herself. The creatures are absolutely harmless. Within seconds, her face lit up with excitement and she and her mom stayed for over two hours helping my family. Her mom even took a picture of her holding a horseshoe crab, and shared it on her social media, which in turn spread the message to hundreds more people.

My Apprentice Ecologist Project has had a positive effect on me personally, as well as the lives of thousands of animals. Beginning with my high school environmental club, and then continuing on to initiate and lead horseshoe crab rescues, I have and always will work hard to save them. The Delaware Bay is only one of the many places on Earth that needs our help. A day of wet and muddy work is insignificant compared to the fact that I am personally saving the lives of horseshoe crabs, shore birds, and terrapins. I'm ecstatic to have found such a rewarding way to spread the message of conservation, help protect an amazing ecosystem, and rescue some of the world's most ancient creatures.