Connecting Crabs & Birds in Lower NY Bay

In a recent article in the New York Times I was upset to find just how selfish people can be. Last week two men from Brooklyn were arrested for stealing 200  Horseshoe Crabs from an island, locally known as the Ruffle Bar, in Jamaica Bay, Queens. The two men were each charged with taking wildlife without a permit and disturbing wildlife breeding practices in a national park. Police had found the two men around 10pm loading crabs into a large plastic tub. The crabs were going to be sold as bait to local fishermen so they could catch eels or whelks, which in return would have been sold to Asian or European fish markets for money.

It's a global economy and our little Horseshoe Crabs are often seen as bait and profit by short-sighted, greedy people. They care not about conservation, only about themselves.

What people often fail to notice is that nature does exist in the New York metropolitan region. It might not be as extravagant as in less urban-suburban environments, but what remains here is always more fascinating. We find nature coexisting in proximity to millions of humans in a number of parks and preserves, frequently unseen or disregarded by the public.

Right now one of the greatest natural events often unseen by the general public is happening in the New York metropolitan region. It's the connection between migrating shorebirds and mating Horseshoe Crabs.

For a few weeks out of the year, the shoreline of Sandy Hook Bay and other bay beaches along Lower New York Bay and in nearby Jamaica Bay come alive with countless migratory shorebirds and breeding pairs of Horseshoe Crabs. On tidal flats and wide sandy beaches, the birds will stop to recharge their energy reserves before resuming their long winged journey northward towards breeding grounds, some as far as the tundra of the high Arctic.
 
Many shorebirds are on the move, traveling thousands of miles from South America, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico or the Gulf of Mexico.  Migrating day and night with the moon, sun, stars, and other natural features to guide them on their long winged journey from one continent to another, from one hemisphere to another, in an eternal quest to breed, raise a family, and keep the species going.

Last weekend in Sandy Hook Bay was a good time for noteworthy birds. Down the length of the intertidal zone were the sight of scores of weary and worn-out migratory shorebirds. Too many to count. There were Dunlins, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings, and Semipalmated Sandpipers.

The prized sighting of the day, however, were about a dozen Red Knots in breeding plumage. A 10-inch tall chunky shorebird with short legs, a medium length bill and a distinctive face and belly seemingly washed in a red hue. Red Knots are the most rare of all shorebirds seen along the Jersey Shore. They are endangered with becoming extinct within our lifetime.  A very sad distinction for any animal. The bird has experienced a shocking reduction in numbers in the last 20 years, as much as a 90 percent decline.

Every spring, Red Knots make a leap of faith to keep their species alive. The birds will make a 9,300-mile migration from the tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, to the high Canadian Arctic to raise a family. This flight makes the bird a long distance migrant in the animal kingdom. In-between their lengthy migration, the Red Knots will make two main stops to rest and refuel, one in Brazil and the other along the mid-Atlantic coast, frequently along the Jersey Shore, especially along Delaware Bay. Small numbers also appear along the shores of Sandy Hook Bay, Raritan Bay and Lower New York Bay.

Over thousands of years, migratory shorebirds including the embattled Red Knot have worked out a plan to travel over vast distances and through intense storms and winds. They have figured out the right time and the right place to arrive at a sandy beach in the mid-Atlantic. They seek one food source that will keep the migration going - Horseshoe Crab eggs.

The shorebirds have linked their entire survival on one biological event: the mating of Horseshoe Crabs in May and June and the release of billions of fatty, protein rich crab eggs. Without enough oily crab eggs to feed hungry shorebirds, the migration will end. The shorebirds will not have enough energy to continue their long winged migration..

Unfortunately, as Horseshoe Crab populations continue to decline, so do the populations of many migrating shorebirds, including Red Knots. The food the birds require to refuel between their wintering grounds and their breeding grounds in the Arctic is being depleted.

The lack of Horseshoe Crab eggs is an important reason why Red Knots are threatened with extinction. They are running out of food to keep the migration going. The birds stop only a few times as they travel and always in the same coastal areas where they often find dwindling food resources.

The connection between mating Horseshoe Crabs and migrating shorebirds has been going on for a very long time, unbelievably long, seemingly forever. Now, habitat destruction, including the building of bulkheads, groins,  and the development of buildings near the beach, and human activities such as using Horseshoe Crabs as bait to catch eels and whelks, have threatened populations of Horseshoe Crabs and in return have put migrating birds including the Red Knot at risk.

One way you can help is by making sure states restrict the harvest of Horseshoe Crabs in local waters. New York State does not have a moratorium on harvesting Horseshoe Crabs. Although New Jersey does have a moratorium, it's being threatened by a handful of short-sighted politicians in Trenton that want to life the ban. Please send emails to NY State Governor Cuomo and NJ State Governor Christie to let them know you care about protecting Horseshoe Crabs and helping the endangered Red Knot.

For more information about the important connection between migrating shorebirds and Horseshoe Crabs, check out the PBS documentary film entitled, Crash, A tale of Two Species. You can preview the film here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/crash-a-tale-of-two-species/why-save-the-red-knot/597/

For more information, pictures and year-round sightings of wildlife in or near Sandy Hook Bay, please check out my blog entitled, Nature on the Edge of New York City at http://www.natureontheedgenyc.com