Local
SoundWaters seeking volunteers to help with annual horseshoe crab census
By SoundWaters
May 9, 2008 - 1:56:00 PM

SoundWaters, an environmental educational organization, is recruiting volunteers to assist in this year’s census of the spawning horseshoe crab. All volunteers are asked to attend a training session at one of three beaches in Stamford and Darien on Thursday, May 15.

The census-training session will last for 45 minutes and will take place at the following locations and times:

· 9:30 a.m. at Cove Island Park’s Main Beach in Stamford

· 10 a.m. at Cove Island Park’s Horseshoe Crab Beach in Stamford

· 11 a.m. at Weed Beech in Darien

· 12:30 p.m. at Southfield Beach in Stamford

SoundWaters is coordinating the sessions with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Project Limulus, and Sacred Heart University’s Chair of Biology Professor Jennifer Mattei. To join the annual count, email your name and name of the beach you plan to monitor to Dianne@soundwaters.org or call 406-3302.

The horseshoe crab’s spawning period lasts from mid-May to mid-June. During this period, the females arrive at high tide to lay eggs in the sand and the awaiting males fertilize them. The annual census keeps track of the species, which fills an important niche in both the local ecology and medical research. The horseshoe crab is considered a “living fossil” because it has existed since the Palezoic Era.

Founded in 1989, SoundWaters is the leading environmental educational organization on Long Island Sound. Its mission is to educate children and adults about the wonders and beauty of Long Island Sound and its watershed. Through education, SoundWaters provides people with an understanding and awareness of the changes they can make in their lives and communities to restore, protect, and preserve Long Island Sound and the environment. Programs take place at the Coastal Education Center in Cove Island Park in Stamford, Connecticut; on SoundWaters, an 80’ three-masted schooner; at schools, community centers and field sites throughout the region.

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