Horseshoe crab decline threatens safety in medical industry, procedures
GRAND STRAND, S.C. (WPDE) — Right now is the time you’re most likely to see horseshoe crabs spawning on our beaches, but as a local park ranger and a marine scientist explain, it’s rarer now than it used to be as populations decline, which could directly impact our ability to safely take a pill, get a vaccine or go through any other medical procedure.
“We used to get some that nested on the beach here,” said Huntington Beach State Park Interpretive Ranger Mike Walker, who has been walking the beaches in the area for decades.
“Last year, I was out here a lot—I’m out here every weekend. I saw a total of three horseshoe crabs nesting out here. So they definitely seem to be declining,” he said. “I am not a horseshoe crab scientist, I just want to make that clear. I am a park ranger. My personal observation is I see less and less of them nesting.”
Someone who is more of a ‘horseshoe crab scientist’ though, has confirmed it.
