| Fast Facts |
location
60 miles south of Philadelphia
ecoregions
North Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay Lowlands
project size
1 million acres
preserves
Milford Neck, Port Mahon, Great Marsh, McCabe, Manumuskin River, Cape May Bird Refuge, Hand's Landing, Lizard Tail Swamp, Eldora Nature
public lands
national wildlife refuges, state wildlife management areas, Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, Bellepark State Forest
partners
State governments, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, EPA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Delaware WildLands, Sussex County Land Trust, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, South Jersey Land Trust, farmers
conservancy initiatives
Freshwater, Invasive Species, Marine
natural events
horseshoe crab spawning and shorebird migration, spring | |
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| A concerted effort is under way in the two states that ring Delaware Bay to protect an ancient species that roamed the seas before the age of dinosaurs. |
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Spawning horseshoe crabs.
© Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures |
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The Delaware Bayshores - with 3,400-square miles of beaches, bays, dunes, wetlands and forest straddling the border between Delaware and southern New Jersey - is a rare find in an extensively developed Northeast corridor. Even more remarkable than this intact natural landscape are its prehistoric inhabitants. The Delaware Bayshores is home to the country's largest population of American horseshoe crab, one of the oldest living species on Earth.
A closer relative of spiders and scorpions than crustaceans, the horseshoe crab's solid shell, tolerance of extreme temperatures and salinity, and ability to survive several months without food have enabled it to endure for more than 250 million years. Native Americans used their shells to bail water out of canoes, and farmers crushed them to fertilize crops. Today scientists study the horseshoe crab to better understand the human eye and collect their blue blood to test new medicines for harmful bacteria before distribution to the public. Fishermen also covet the crabs as bait for eel and conch. |
Cape May National Wildlife Refuge.
© Art Wolfe |
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These ancient creatures are perhaps most valued by the millions of migrating shorebirds like red knots and ruddy turnstones that feast on horseshoe crab eggs. When spring arrives and the moon grows full, horseshoe crabs travel toward the shore from their deep-water winter habitat along the continental shelf to lay their eggs on the beach during |
| high tide. In concert with this extraordinary event is the arrival of shorebirds from South America. Here at the Delaware Bayshores the birds will double their weight before completing their 10,000-mile journey to the Canadian Arctic. | |
In recent years fewer shorebirds have returned to the bay, their numbers linked to the decline of spawning horseshoe crabs. From replenishing the beach with suitable sand to expanding protected areas, The Nature Conservancy is working with partners across state boundaries to revive the horseshoe crab population and the shorebirds that depend on these creatures that outlived the dinosaurs.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Delaware and New Jersey. |
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| Conservation Profile |
targets
migrating shorebirds like red knots and ruddy turnstones, neotropical songbirds, bald eagles, piping plover, least tern, horseshoe crabs, pink tickseed, Atlantic white cedar, swamp pink, sensitive joint-vetch
stresses
incompatible development, unsustainable agriculture, climate change, altered hydrological regime, clearing of coastal forests, overharvest of natural resources, oil and hazardous material spills, invasive species
strategies
acquire land, secure conservation easements, influence land-use planning, build conservation alliances, undertake scientific research, engage community, promote ecotourism and compatible development
results
5,000 acres of beach and marsh protected | | | | |
