Dog and cat lovers continually debate about which animal is
man's best friend. But ask marine education specialist Bill Hall
his opinion, and he will tell you that the hands-down winner is
the horseshoe crab. While few may know it, this prehistoric
creature with the helmet-shaped body and spear-like tail has
saved countless human lives. On Thursday, May 27, at 7 p.m. at
the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies in Lewes,
Hall will present "The Horseshoe Crab: Man's Best Friend, or How
Well Do I Know the Crab That Saved My Life?" His talk is part of
the college's Ocean Currents Lecture Series, which will be held
at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus once a month through September.
"Horseshoe crabs are critical to the welfare of migrating
shorebirds that stop along the Delaware Bay each spring to fuel
up for the flight north to Arctic nesting grounds. Some of these
birds double and even triple their weight by feasting on
horseshoe crab eggs," Hall says. "Yet the horseshoe crab is just
as important to humans