Science, not voyeurism
Atlantic Horseshoe Crab orgy.
Excerpted and edited from an ecoRI News article (image above not included)
As the full moon rose above the shoreline near Conimicut Point Park, in Warwick, R.I., about 100 people gathered along the estuary and belted out “crabaoke,” a crab-themed twist on karaoke. The crowd sang in unison: “She said, shut up and spawn with me!”
Scientists, doctors, artists, community organizers, teachers, and students from preschool through college knew they would meet near the park, rain or shine. What they didn’t know was whether the guests of honor would show up.
One of Earth’s oldest living species comes out of the Atlantic and onto beaches to mate at high tide during the full and new moons of late spring. One year, the group found a single horseshoe crab as if he hadn’t been given the address to the orgy.
Rhode Islanders gathered May 31 to celebrate Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs, which have survived five mass extinctions and have been pushed to the brink by humans, prompting conservation groups to call for federal protection before these spawning events vanish. But those groups and federal government agencies are clashing on how the species should be managed and protected.