Sunday evening, June 12, we drove to Tower Road to be in place for our Center For Inland Bays horseshoe crab counting which was to start at high tide and near full moon. First, we drove to the ocean side of Tower Road and parked and walked the beach a bit. The ghost crabs were out. A few sun worshippers and romantics were still about enjoying the last of the daylight.
When we drove around to the bay side (Rehobeth Bay) of Tower Road, there initially were lots of cars parked to watch the sunset. Also there were a few people fishing and some kayakers coming in. It was a nice evening. We waited until we were the only ones parked there for a while, then our fellow horseshoe crab counters started to arrive and we took the water temperature, a sample, wind velocity and estimated wave height. Then precisely at high tide we began counting horseshoe crabs with one team, and behind them we had another team, the one Dave and I worked on this time, to gather and tag horseshoe crabs. Tagging them involves measuring and categorizing them by sex and estimated age in three categories: young, mature and old. We gently put them back in the water after each tagging.
It is so wonderful how nature works. When we first arrived we could see a few of the rounded bumps of the horseshoe crabs near shore. But as the time approached high tide the numbers really increased. Amazing. My eyes are being opened. My mind is appreciating with each new thing I learned.
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