Once a Spawn a Time: Horseshoe Crabs Mob the Beach | Deep Look
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Published 2021-08-31
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Each spring during May and June, Atlantic horseshoe crabs gather by the millions along the East Coast of North America with only one thing on their mind — a springtime spawning spree!
From Maine to the Gulf of Mexico they seek out calm bays and estuaries, waiting for the highest tides to emerge from the waves. They dig down into the wet sand and deposit huge numbers of pea-sized eggs.
David R. Smith, a biological statistician who studies horseshoe crabs for the U.S.Geological Survey, has come to Slaughter Beach, Delaware, to witness the spectacle under the glow of a full moon.
“It's sort of like looking back in time,” says Smith, “That same scene of these marine creatures coming to the water's edge on a quiet sandy beach to spawn has been repeated for millions and millions of years without much variation.”
--- What do horseshoe crabs eat?
Horseshoe crabs mostly eat worms and mollusks from the seafloor. But they aren’t picky, they’ll eat other things like small fish and different crustaceans.
--- Why do horseshoe crabs lay their eggs on land?
By laying their eggs in the damp sand, they protect their eggs from the many predators that live in the sea. It allows their offspring a chance to develop before another high tide carries them into the sea.
--- Why do horseshoe crabs have blue blood?
Like other mollusks, horseshoe crabs have blood that carries oxygen using a copper-containing protein called hemocyanin. The hemocyanin turns blue when exposed to oxygen. Vertebrates like humans have iron-containing hemoglobin in their blood, causing it to turn red when exposed to oxygen.
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All Comments (21)
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When I was a kid, I read a book about prehistoric creatures, featuring horseshoe crabs, I thought they were extinct. Years later, I was dumbfounded to discover they still exist. Like a dinosaur coming to life.
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The horseshoe crab babies are the cutest 😭😭
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This channel is literally the spark that inspired me to pursue a career in environmental/ ecological sciences. Thank you Deep Look for being such a big part of my life! ❤️
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Been around 400 million years surviving the dinosaur’s extinction only to be endangered today. Something to think about. Thanks for the lovely video!
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Ah, so the eggs are where Metroid came from.
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Thanks for a great collaboration! Those tiny little eggs really make a huge difference in the life cycle of these migratory animals and in our episode! 💯
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Another weird fact, when swimming they actually hang upside down at slight angle, using the book gills on the underside to propel themselves.
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I like how they call it otherworldly when it’s probably the longest thing to be on earth
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I have never seen a baby horseshoe crab before, they're so cute, thanks for this video!
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I haven't seen a nature show in like 10 year's? This is such high quality, I almost thought it was CGI. Camera tech and lighting has surely matured. Amazing.
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Its funny watching everyone learn about these because as a Delawarian born and raised these dinosaurs were a part of our culture. We had feild trips to the beach to see them and to reseach centers about them. Edit: I moved to Florida and whenever i leave Delaware and tell other Americans where im from everyone like "Wheres Delaware?" Or "They speak English where your from?" But since Biden everyone knows about Delaware now.
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I can't get over how good the narration on these is. And the camera work. And the script. And topics. And literally everything else. I actually cannot find anything that they can do better.
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When I was a young'un, growing up near Tampa, FL, my grandfather would take me to the beach a lot. Sometimes, you could see a stray horseshoe crab and my grandfather liked to collect the shells of the dead ones left on the beach. I was always scared of their huge spike-tail, but also very fascinated by them. All these years later, seeing them in videos like these piques my curiosity and brings me back to my childhood, and the youthful wonder I felt when I encountered these alien creatures.
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"Not everyone finds a date" i felt that on a spiritual lvl 🥲
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The texture and colors of their shells are incredible! Nature knows whats up
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Fun fact: there are actually four extant species of horseshoe crab! The other three are all native to Southeast Asia, which is why you don't hear about them as much as the Atlantic species.
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I remember I was at the beach of Florida while at vacation and seeing this strange big crab shells on the beach like after a war. Apparently it was a crab arachnid that died during a storm and their carcasses had now washed ashore, was so surreal, never seen something like it back in Scandinavia, but our name for them translates to “dagger tail”
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Kurzgesagt and Deep look posted video in the same day Yep, today is a good day
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I should not have watched this right after watching the facehuggger scene in Alien.
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Who could have thought that a living fossil would be this cute! Thanks for the insight too!
