Horseshoe crabs have survived for hundreds of millions of years, through all the extinction events and human threats to its life, it continues to live and survive. And their struggle to survive is one that could inspire us how we could too.
On the full and new moons, Limulus polyphemus, the Atlantic horseshoe crab, glides up from the ocean floor. It floats and skims along the water’s edge, using one set of legs to push aside mud, silt, and sand. Of its ten eyes, the largest two on the sides of its shell are used to look for mates.
Once mating season begins, these crabs will go on a search for a nest to breed in and there, the females will lay about 20,000 eggs in a day, which could go as many as 80,000 per season. However, of all the eggs that will be laid and fertilized, only 3 in 100,000 will survive.
But the thing is, this has been their cycle for 450 million years. And they still continue on with life despite their circumstances. There have been concerns of their populations depleting due to the huge numbers being harvested for various reasons.
This ancient mariner brings gifts: medically valuable blue blood for humans and protein-rich eggs for shorebirds. If you have had surgery or been vaccinated, you can thank the horseshoe crabs and their blood—which contains the chemical limulus amoebosyte lysate (LAL).
You could say that their blood is hardly a gift, but something stolen for the survival of another species—us. The very wildness of the horseshoe crab enables contemporary human civilization to perpetuate itself.
Despite all that, these are some tough creatures. They will continue to spawn and push forward which would hopefully inspire us humans to help them survive which in turn would help us survive.
(Image credit: Lenora Todaro/Catapult)