Volunteers Needed

Please join Long Pasture, Mass Audubon in their upcoming Horseshoe Crab Survey.

In a mass May migration, horseshoe crabs journey to the bays, coves, and tidal flats of Cape Cod to spawn and to lay clusters of eggs.Many creatures including migrating shorebirds rely on the eggs for high calorie boosts, enabling them to continue their flight to Arctic nesting grounds.
Unfortunately, the migrating hordes of horseshoe crabs of yesteryear have become fewer and fewer each. They suffer from uncontrolled harvest as bait for the eel and conch fisheries, collection for the biomedical industry, and changes to their habitat.
Mass Audubon is participating in a study aimed at determining horseshoe crab population levels in several Cape Cod environments. The results have helped set harvest limits aimed at stabilizing the population. Mass Audubon’s Long Pasture Wildlife Sanctuary will be conducting a horseshoe crab spawning survey in Barnstable Harbor to help us determine if the population is sustaining itself and to inform harvest limits aimed at stabilizing the population.
A commitment of at least 3- two hour surveys is required.
For more information please contact Ian Ives at 508-362-7475