Population Crash: Disappearing Horseshoe Crabs
Description
Each year, the red knot, a small shorebird that winters on the southern tip of South America, embarks on a 10,000-mile journey to its nesting grounds in the Arctic. The pocket-sized long distance traveler times its migration precisely to coincide with the annual spawning of one of the Earth's most ancient creatures, the horseshoe crab, in the Delaware Bay. The eggs of the crab fuel the birds on one of the longest migrations on earth. But humans have harvested the horseshoe crab for fishing bait, and use its blood for medical purposes. With the crabs now in decline, the red knot is in danger. This story is a compelling example of how every species is interconnected, and of our potential to destroy those connections -- or restore them.
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This was an excellent, all too short documentary on the intermingled destinys ...
This was an excellent, all too short documentary on the intermingled destinys of the red knot, a small shorebird that annually migrates from Antartica to the Artic, including a stop off at the Delaware Bay, and the horseshoe crab. The knots come to the bay to feast on horseshoe crab eggs that are deposited in the sand by the annual mating of horseshoe crabs, Declining numbers of crabs, due to human development and harvesting and habitat disappearence, have caused knot populations to shrink too. Fortunaetly conservation efforts may be having an effect but the long-term survival of the red know is still bleak. This documentary should seen in conjunction with reading "The Narrow Edge.: A Tiny Bird, an Ancient Crab and an Epic Journey," Deborah Cramer's 2015 book on the same topic.
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