{"id":862,"date":"2013-10-03T05:17:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T05:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/?page_id=862"},"modified":"2013-10-03T05:17:51","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T05:17:51","slug":"the-harmless-and-helpful-horseshoe-crab","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.morgan-nj.org\/blog\/sample-page\/morgan-critters\/the-harmless-and-helpful-horseshoe-crab\/","title":{"rendered":"The Harmless and Helpful Horseshoe Crab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morgan Marine Life \u2013 The Harmless and Helpful Horseshoe Crab<\/h3>\n
\"Horseshoe<\/a>

Horseshoe Crab in Morgan, NJ<\/p><\/div>\n

It being June [this was originally posted in June 2010], it must be Horseshoe Crab time in Morgan.\u00a0 As a kid, these critters would just freak me out.\u00a0 The barnacles! That long tail thing which looked so menacing \u2013 I always pictured it going through someone\u2019s foot.\u00a0 Near the shore, you would on occasion see a tail pop up above the surface as a herd of them would come in. When they were upside down, the crawly legs and pincers along with what I now know to be the \u201cBook Gills\u201d were just bizarre and freakish. Forget about going into the water!<\/span><\/p>\n

Probably eight or so years ago, my family and I were at Sea World in San Diego at the Star Fish pools when I looked over in a nearby pool and saw something totally unexpected – Horseshoe Crabs.\u00a0 Wow, that was fantastic and an opportunity to revisit these creatures I knew as a kid. As an adult, they are more fascinating than menacing.\u00a0 Now, with the wonder of the Internet (some web sites are listed at the end of this posting), everyone is able to easily learn about these amazing creatures.\u00a0 They play such an important role in keeping Raritan Bay \u201calive\u201d \u2013 despite the toll caused by man\u2019s by-products over the last 150+ years.\u00a0 For example, their eggs are a source of food for birds. Being there is now a medical use for their blood, they have climbed up some on the importance level in society so now there are conservation efforts under way. Too bad that is what it takes to get people more aware of their importance. Thanks to Dave Riley from the Facebook Group \u201cYou know if you grew up in Morgan if\u201d for this video about this<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the things I learned from the various web sites:<\/p>\n