Nature
Maryland get ready…millions are headed to your beaches this month!
Maryland is home to one of the oldest migrations known, over 350 million years. Horseshoe crabs will soon be heading for the Maryland shores to spawn and lay their eggs. The ancient creatures are a vital part of the food chain. Horseshoe crab eggs provide food for many species. Like other migrations, the horseshoe crab follows the full moon. What a magnificent sight to see as millions of the creatures come out of the ocean onto the shorelines. If you are lucky enough to witness this migration and happen upon one of the prehistoric looking sea creatures overturned, do your part and carefully flip it back over.
“Through the month of June, visitors to Maryland’s beaches can expect an astonishing sight – millions of horseshoe crabs will make their annual pilgrimage from the Atlantic Ocean to our shores.”
“Dating back at least 350 million years, it’s one of the largest spawning events of horseshoe crabs in the world.”
“The largest numbers of horseshoe crabs can likely be found on or around the full moon, which takes place June 9, or the new moon June 23. During this spawning period an individual horseshoe crab could lay nearly 20,000 eggs on Maryland’s beaches and shores.”
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