I was so saddened to read the article published in “Scientific American” last week. I nearly shared this on the Facebook page for this website, but felt that it warranted a more complete and permanent sharing, so I have included the complete text here. People ask during my programs about threats to the animal being discussed (horseshoe crabs, dolphins, sea turtles, etc), and the biggest threat to all of these is MAN, and so it continues. These creatures predate the dinosaurs and have been of invaluable medical assistance since the 1950’s and look what we are doing to them. I could just cry.
Medical Labs May Be Killing Horseshoe Crabs
Drawing the crabs’ blue blood for vital medical testing can condemn the animals to die, even after they are returned to the sea.
In 2013 John Tanacredi, an environmental sciences professor at Molloy College on Long Island, N.Y., received a call from a friend who worked at nearby John F. Kennedy International Airport. “You’ve got to see this,” he told Tanacredi, and sent him a photo of a cargo container filled with 600 dead horseshoe crabs. It was mid-July, and airport officials had opened the container because of a rotting stench. Continue reading
