Links, Acknowledgements, and References

May 19, 1999 Washington Post article
Covers Bruce Babbitt's speech blaming lax restrictions in Virginia for undermining a regional effort to protect horseshoe crabs from overfishing.
WHSRN: Delaware Bay
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network's description of the Delaware Bay, one of its hemispheric reserves. Includes sections on research activities, management, and threats. Also has coverage of recent significant events and a Concensus Statement from the WHSRN Scientific Advisory Board.
Deleware Bay Home Page
A good collection of information on the crisis including a set of pages on background and detailed analysis.
Philadelphia Online: Horsecrab Population in NJ Being Depleted
Coverage of horseshoe crabs and shorebirds which includes fishermen's perspectives and some details of Clive Minton's work.
NMFS: Commercial Fisheries Statistics
National Marine Fisheries Service's fisheries statistics for 1950-1996 including horseshoe crab landings.
Horseshoe Crab by Patty Sturtevant, Ph.D.
Page with details of the horseshoe crab's biology.
Shorebird Watcher by Dick & Jean Hoffman
Includes a link section on the Delaware Bay.
Natural Phenomenom: Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds by Robert D. Barber
Includes a few links to other sites on horseshoe crabs and shorebirds.
Assateague Naturalist: Horseshoe Crab
Brief page on the horseshoe crab.

Acknowledgements

I'd like to thank Pete Dunne for providing the "mood" piece that introduced this article.

I'd also like to thank Dr. Carl N. Shuster for the use of his illustration of the horseshoe crab.

The following people were contacted during the writing of this article and I'd like to thank them for their assistance:

Kathleen Clark, New Jersey Non-game and Endangered Species Program
John Field, Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
Brian Harrington, Manomet Observatory
David Mizrahi, Clemson University
Larry Niles, New Jersey Non-game and Endangered Species Program
Simon Perkins, Massachusetts Audubon
Wayne Petersen, Massachusetts Audubon
Carl N. Shuster, Jr.
Benjie Swan, Limuli Laboratories
Joan Walsh, Cape May Bird Observatory
Gerald Winegrad, American Bird Conservancy

References

American Eel Plan Development Team, 1997. American eel and horseshoe crab public information document. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Botton, M. L., R. E. Loveland, and T. R. Jacobsen, 1994. Site selection by migratory shorebirds in Delaware Bay, and its relationship to beach characteristics and abundance of horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) eggs. The Auk 111(3): 605-616.

Clark, K. E., L. J. Niles, and J. Burger, 1993. Abundance and distribution of migrant shorebirds in Delaware Bay. Condor 95: 694-705.

Harrington, B., with C. Flowers, 1996. Flight of the Red Knot, W.W. Norton & Co., New York.

Shuster C. N., Jr. 1982. A pictorial review of the natural history and ecology of the horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus, with reference to other Limulidae. Pages 1-52 in Physiology and biology of horseshoe crabs: Studies on normal and environmentally stressed animals (J. Bonaventura, C. Bonaventura, and S.Tesh, Eds.). Alan R. Liss, New York.

Swan, B. L., W. Hall, Jr. and C. N. Shuster, Jr. (1996 unpublished report). An overview of horseshoe crab spawning activity along the Delaware Bay shore, 1990-1996. Limuli Laboratories.

Wander, W., and P. Dunne. 1981. Species and numbers of shorebirds on the Delaware Bayshore of New Jersey - Spring 1981. Occas. Paper No. 140. Records of New Jersey Birds 7(4):59-64.

The Horseshoe Crabs of Delaware Bay