Main content

Horseshoe Crab Moon

Horseshoe Crab Moon follows biologists Larry Niles and Amanda Dey and their team of dedicated researchers and volunteers as they study the decline of the Horseshoe Crab along the Delaware Bay area and its relationship to the precipitous population crash of the Red Knot, a globe-trotting sandpiper whose numbers have dropped nearly 80% in the last 20 years.

Through a combination of meticulous cataloging of crab egg numbers and the physical health of various shorebirds of interest (including Red Knots, Turnstones and Sanderlings) and careful monitoring of migratory flight paths using geolocators, these scientists are crafting a body of scientific data that can be used to influence state and federal policies related to the conservation of coastal wetlands and bays from crab overharvesting and commercial development.

Horseshoe Crab Moon is an inspiring story of the scientist and field biologist's successful efforts to connect an ancient ecosystem with the interconnected relationship of the moon, tides, Horseshoe crabs and sandpipers.

Related Films

Estuary

A close-up look at wetlands ecology.

The Crabs, The Birds, The Bay

Every spring nearly one million migrant shorebirds (sandpipers and plovers)…

Secrets of the Salt Marsh

An overview of salt marsh ecology.