Spirit of the Sand – The Ghost Crab (Ocypode quadrata)

In mid-dark hours under a starlit sky

Porcelain apparitions flirt at edge of sight

Spirits of the dead that poke and pry

Rotten flesh-eating ghosts that haunt the night

Fallen sea stars crash to shore

An aquatic wish, a wish no more

Scallops and whelks ground into sand

A coastal cemetery where gulf grazes land

Midnight monsters rise from sandy grave

A four foot burrow and a daytime shade

“Fast of foot” Ocypode glides

Seeking beach line bounty of nightly tides

Scavengers of sorrow sift skeletal remains

Washed ashore by unforgiving waves

Bones and shells now picked clean

Are left on beach as tombstone memory

Coquina Clams and Mole Crabs beware

Dead or undead the ghouls won’t care

They hunt and feed and disappear

Underground to their shell cave lair

As sun arcs high up overhead

Predators hunt the haunted sand

Few ghosts emerge in fear as well

That they’d be rendered down to shell

Yet large stalked eyes help to see

While four paired legs aid well to flee

And one large claw is meant to scare

It’s hard to catch one unaware

But do not fear

The beast of the coast

After all

It’s just a ghost.

Horseshoe Somersault

What has blue blood, feet around its mouth and 10 eyes and legs? The Horseshoe Crab - which isn't a crab at all, but an arthropod that shares a few similarities with other arthropods like spiders and crabs. They predate the dinosaurs and are most closely related to trilobites.

We didn't catch any in our seine netting on Saturday, but a walk in the mud flats at low tide revealed a few bulldozing their way through the mud in search of shelter. This area is essentially a nursery for young crabs. They molt several times in their first 2 years and by the time they get to be this size - maybe once a year - discarding the entire "shell" as they grow.

This young adult was hunkering down in a small pool of brackish water. They prefer the back bays and coves that have low wave energy. This species (of which there are 4 worldwide) is found from New Jersey south to the Gulf of Mexico. The greatest abundance of Horseshoe Crabs is in Delaware Bay where hundreds of thousands of migrating birds stop in to munch on the crab's eggs. Fortunately each female can lay up to 80,000 eggs (yet populations have been declining).

Our instructor placed it upside down to demonstrate how they can do a somersault to right themselves. Here you can see the 10 crab-like legs that surround the mouth (Like the alien in the movie Predator).

The crab is able to use its tail to roll itself over.

And flip itself to a more natural position. Not all are capable of doing so and in some Atlantic states they have instituted a "Just Flip Em" campaign to encourage beach goers to flip the harmless creatures over.

They have light sensitive organs or "eyes" on the front end as well as on their tail that allow them to see the light spectrum that we see as well as ultra violet light.

Despite what looks like a tough exterior, the exoskeleton is relatively fragile. Below - the Horseshoe Crab has burrowed into the mud. A walk in the mud flats is like walking on eggshells if you don't take care - fiddler and horseshoe crabs abound.

Technically their blood is not blue but when exposed to oxygen it turns blue. The blood has been important in medical research as scientists look at the bacteria resistant properties and develop new ways to benefit from it. Currently an extract of Horseshoe Crab blood is used in vaccines and medical devices to prevent bacterial contamination.

They look benign from the road but the mudflat tidal zone is full of a diversity of life including the acrobatic "crabs".

For more info on Horseshoe Crabs check out http://horseshoecrab.org/nh/hist.html

Ghosts of Coastlines Past

Ghosts are fast. Blink and you'll miss them. Some people have no idea they exist. Their white, ephemeral appearance helps them disappear before your eyes.

Their stalked eyes make watching you all easier. Glance at them and they dart away at up to 35 mph.

But not without a trace. Fast and cautious, the Ghost Crab retreats to a sandy burrow in a flash.

Signs of Laziness

Jungle Pete is returning North - if only for a few days to visit the family and anyone else he can round up. He's also practicing speaking in the third person for no apparent reason. Pete can't leave without writing one more time, but seeing as he's been tying up loose ends at work before he goes, he hasn't had time to put together a cohesive thought. So Pete presents to you a few of the crazy signs he's seen on my exploits. I mean his exploits. They didn't really fit anywhere else so here they are.
Is it me or does the proprietor seem a little peeved with the police? Hey Police! You are on notice! (Naples, FL)

This one was put up after a raccoon swung a club and lost the grip, sending a 9-iron through the windshield of a BMW. (Cape Coral, FL)

I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't know if this is a goof or if there are "land crabs" I need to worry about running over. I'd hate to think I was needlessly concerned. (Hollywood, FL)

It's hard enough to go 12 MPH, but this is impossible. The squirrel looks a bit flat already. (Punta Gorda, FL)

This one I think I may have posted before - but it bears repeating. (Did I say bear and but in the same sentence.) (LaBelle, FL)
This is a bonus. This is called the Cape Coral Tower of Terror. It was constructed by Rotary volunteers and has withstood hurricanes, high winds and poor construction. It's not trick photography. It really looks like an Eischer drawing. It's listing and shakes when you go up it. How it has not collapsed is beyond me.

Ok - this is perhaps the worst entry to date, but it's really just an announcement of my temporary departure from Florida. I'm looking forward to seeing new nephew Carter and the rest of the nieces and nephews. I'll be in Vermont on Thursday 9/6 for anyone who wishes to gather at the Long Trail Pub and Brewery in Bridgewater, VT.

Feeling Crabby

I know I've been up to something these last few days....why do they seem a blur? Cinco de Mayo? No. Interviewing for our new guides? Maybe. Red Tide affecting my breathing? I suppose. I just don't know. I guess I've just been feeling crabby. MaLe and I spotted this coprophagic (poop-eating) mangrove crab while walking the boardwalk out near Fort Myers Beach. They're about the size of a half-dollar.

Maybe I haven't been angry enough to write. It's ok to write when you're angry, but never write when you are tired. I have a tour Monday morning so I best get to bed. More Everglades Adventures mañana