Smoking Ban May Now Include Your Apartment
Giuliani Livid Over Bringing 9/11 Trials to NYC
Access-A-Ride Nailed by Local News
House Cat Terrorizes Family In Dramatic Hostage Situation
Oreo The Dog Is Dead, Blame Game Is Not
It's that time of year when love at the seashore blossoms, and hordes of initially alarming-looking horseshoe crabs scuttle up onto the beaches of Jamaica Bay to procreate in the sands. The species is approximately 450 million years old, and they look like something from a dinosaur film strip. Despite their tails that look like barbs and alien appearance, horseshoe crabs are completely harmless.
Every summer, under a full moon, the crabs migrate to beaches where the female lays her eggs and multiple males make their play to inseminate them. Dr. Martin P. Schreibman, a marine biologist at Brooklyn College, is featured in a NY Times video discussing his work attempting to cultivate and preserve the species. His work usually takes him to Plum Beach, on Brooklyn's Jamaica Bay, where crabs romance each other amidst the garbage and other detritus that litter New York's beaches. Citynoise has a series of photos of mating horseshoe crabs taken a few years ago.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Whoa, I lived in Brooklyn for 20 years and never knew that. An interesting fact.
Many years ago, my dad found a bunch of horseshoe crabs on the beach, and thinking they were stranded, immediately tried to rescue them by throwing them back into the ocean. Later, someone told him, "No, they weren't in trouble, they were trying to mate." My dad probably set the species back.
In the Times video, Dr. Schreibman describes how some of the older crabs (they live about 30 years) will get knocked on their backs in the surf and are unable to right themselves. One should feel free to pick those crabs up and toss them back in the water. They're completely harmless and can't pinch you or anything.
Awww. Cute l'il crabs.
I used to watch the horeshoe crabs in Douglaston Bay when I was a kid.
Now those are survivors.
Horse shoe crabs have been around 450 Million years, and Humans can barely make it past 2000 years without destroying themselves & the planet. Which is the more intelligent life form?
Did they have tickets to Bon Jovi?
Um, jterry121, humans have been around for 250,000 years and we fuck for pleasure (and have other wonderful, uniquely human abilities like introspection and language). Show some human pride.
TK - not only did they have tickets I heard that they also got early seats in line to get the iphone 3g.
jterry121 implies that humans have been around for only about 2000 years.
Horseshoe crabs like to get freaky on the beach.
Which is the more intelligent life form?
^
|
thanks for helping me win my argument. Horse Shoe Crabs are truly more intelligent than humans.