Spectacular photos show horseshoe crabs swimming, kicking up sediment and hiding entire ecosystems within their shells in protected area in the Philippines
Stunning new images of horseshoe crabs show the colorful sea creatures thriving in a marine protected portion of the Philippines.
The unique creatures, which can grow to between 14 and 19 inches depending on gender, have thrived in the ocean and survived all manner of cataclysmic events over the course of about 450 million years.
Laurent Ballesta, a marine biologist and wildlife photographer, took the dazzling photographs for the August 2022 issue of National Geographic.
Sadly, they’re now facing some of the same perils of modern life that other species have dealt with: overfishing and coastal development.
Less known is the fact that horseshoe crabs are collected for their blue blood, which contains a clotting agent used in the development of safe vaccines – including the Covid-19 vaccines – which conservationists hope will translate to much stronger habitat protections.
That blood is critical for humans but its harvest often kills off the creatures.
Tri-spine horseshoe crabs have lost more than half their population in the past 60 years.
On the Philippine islet of Pangatalan, the species is a symbol of nature’s resilience.
For years the island’s 11 acres were reportedly destroyed: trees cut down for timber, mangroves burned for charcoal, and coral reefs overfished with dynamite and cyanide.
By 2011 these horseshoe crabs were among the largest creatures left.
Pangatalan is now a marine protected area and starting to prosper once again.
National Geographic reports that efforts to restore its reefs and plant thousands of trees have led numerous animals to return, including rare giant groupers.
Horseshoe crabs are not as well-known as other threatened species, but hopefully they’ll prompt more concern for all of nature’s creatures.
Source: daily mail
Crew aboard private yacht confirm sighting of bioluminescent ‘milky sea’
Crew aboard private yacht confirm sighting of bioluminescent ‘milky sea’
Spectacular photos show horseshoe crabs swimming, kicking up sediment and hiding entire ecosystems within their shells in protected area in the Philippines