[SEMCO] Horseshoe crab monitoring project subject of lecture Wed

[Melissa Lowe]

High School Students form "Team Limulus" and Gather Important Data on
Horseshoe Crabs: Presentation at Mass Audubon in Wellfleet 

 

South Wellfleet, MA. - While school may be out for the summer, the work
conducted by a group of High School students from the Wheeler School in
Providence, Rhode Island still resonates. Wheeler School students
enrolled in Advanced Placement Biology classes have participated since
2008 in monitoring horseshoe crab populations along the Rhode Island
coast during the months of May and June. Their work is part of a larger
study run by Dr. Mary-Jane James-Pirri of the Graduate School of
Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, who is conducting
similar studies on Cape Cod, and overseen by their AP Biology teacher
Sharon Tatulli. Concerns over declines of horseshoe crab populations
have prompted much study and many questions. To learn more about the
state of local populations, there are several individuals and
institutions conducting research and monitoring projects across the
region. The data the students are collecting helps scientists understand
the population dynamics of horseshoe crabs. 

 

The Wheeler School students, who named themselves "Team Limulus,"
completed spawning surveys during new and full moon high tides, as well
as two days before and after the high tides. The surveys were run at
Gaspee Point Beach in Warwick, RI. During the 2008 season, the largest
number of adult crabs observed in the spawning surveys was 69, counted
during the evening high tide on June 1, 2008.  Students also tagged 34
crabs with USFWS numbered tags and recorded physical data concerning the
tagged crabs in 2008. Results from 2009 are still being compiled.

 

"[Last year] we surveyed on the first full moon high tide of the season
and saw 380 crabs - it was amazing! What better way to spend an evening
than in chest waders and headlamps down at the beach - the students
loved it," exclaimed Sharon Tatulli.


The students will share the results of their research and monitoring at
a presentation on Wednesday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Wellfleet Bay
Wildlife Sanctuary. Cost is $3 for Mass Audubon members, $5 for
non-members. Registration is not required. For more information contact
the Wellfleet Bay  at 508-349-2615.

 

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The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the west side of
Route 6, immediately north of the Eastham/Wellfleet town line. Call
(508) 349-2615 for information.

 

 

**********************************************
Melissa Lowe, Education Coordinator 
Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary 
PO Box 236, South Wellfleet, MA 02663 
mlowe at massaudubon.org 
508-349-2615, ext 107 

Protecting the Nature of Massachusetts 
www.massaudubon.org/wellfleetbay 

 

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