Approved ~ MJM
Seen any horseshoe crabs having sex lately? Florida biologists want you to report it.
The “living fossils” are entering peak mating season, and you can assist Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scientists by filing an online report, the agency said in a news release Monday.
Your data will help FWC biologists better understand horseshoe crab habitat, population distribution and environmental conditions where the animals choose to nest. They’ve been around, largely unchanged, for roughly 450 million years — before dinosaurs romped the Earth — but scientists are still learning about Florida populations.
Public sightings help biologists focus on nesting beaches for the Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch, a citizen science initiative launched in 2015 to collect data throughout the state.
“Reporting sightings helps (us) learn where horseshoe crabs are active and helps us prioritize conservation efforts to those areas,” said program coordinator Berlynna Heres.
“We also look at areas where they are not reported and investigate why there are few sightings there,” she said.
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