Researchers Seek Residents' Help in Post-Sandy Horseshoe Crab Study

Hurricane Sandy has had a potentially lasting effect on local populations of the American Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus, all across Long Island.

Researchers from Dowling College, who've been in the field for 11 years studying spawning populations on Long Island, are asking for residents' help to collect field data for this crucial post-Sandy spawning season.

"We're looking to train volunteers who would visit one or more of more than 64 beaches around Long Island during the Spring high tides to collect data for our study," researchers said in a release about their efforts and their study: 2013 Long Island Horseshoe Crab Population Study: Habitat Assessment in the Wake of Sandy.

Training would take place at the Center for Estuarine, Environmental and Coastal Oceans Monitoring, (C.E.E.C.O.M.), in West Sayville, a field station for the Department of Earthand Marine Science at Dowling College on Tuesday, May 7, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

"Your efforts during the breeding season from late May to July 2013 will contribute to our goal to assess the response and resilience of this keystone species to regional habitat modification and devastation brought to Long Island by Sandy in October 2012," researchers noted in the release.

You could become part of the Dowling College Long Island Horseshoe Crab Network (HSCLI) by e-mail to the HSCLI program manager at: PortillS@dowling.edu.

Anyone who's seen horseshoe crabs breeding at a local beach either recently or in the distant past is also encouraged to contact Dr. John T. Tanacredi at 631-244-3394 or via e-mail at TanacreJ@dowling.edu.

"Your help will be most appreciated in assisting the conservation of this ancient mariner," noted researchers.

Information supplied by Carol Hauser.

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