The Crabs, The Birds, The Bay
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
Every spring nearly one million migrant shorebirds (sandpipers and plovers) stop to feed on horseshoe crab eggs along the beaches of Delaware Bay. The birds have just completed an incredible nonstop flight from their wintering grounds in South America. For a species like the Red Knot, this may have been seven thousand miles. The birds stop to refuel for their next marathon leap. Their destination: nesting grounds on the high Arctic tundra yet another three thousand miles nonstop. The phenomenon is the second largest gathering of shorebirds in North America but is by far the most spectacular because of its concentration.
The catalyst for this incredible migratory stop is another amazing yet completely different creature, the horseshoe crab. The Delaware Bay hosts the largest population on earth. Every spring these 'living fossils' emerge onto the beaches to lay their eggs. Horseshoe crabs have been around longer than most other forms of life. In the 360 million years that they have roamed the oceans, almost no changes have occurred. Horseshoe crabs have been on earth so long that they predate the first dinosaurs by 100 million years.
The film provides an intimate yet bold look at this annual phenomenon. Viewers will see and learn about the life-cycle of the horseshoe crab, from nesting adults to peering into the pin-sized embryo within the eggs. A unique relationship exists between the migrant birds and the nesting horseshoe crabs. Though vastly different, together the crabs and the birds teach a universal lesson about the interrelationship of all species.
An on-camera foreword is provided by natural history author and Cape May Bird Observatory Director, Pete Dunne.
'Fascinating...A unique relationship exists between the nesting crabs and the migrant shorebirds. Together they teach a universal lesson about the relationship among all species...' The Science Teacher
'For those who have not experienced the phenomenon...this film will put it on your 'To See' list...great for school aged kids and for inspiring mom and dad to take them to see the real thing. Highly recommended for schools and families...' WIldlife Activist Magazine
'Visually and musically...outstanding...' Dawn Littleton, Bio-Medical Library, University of Minnesota, MC Journal
'Intimate photography of crabs, laughing gulls and sandpipers, descriptions of their life cycles and concerns about interference combine to effectively illustrate ecological principles.' Green Teacher
'Shot in a way that makes New Jersey's bay shore look like the stunningly exotic place that it really is.' The Philadelphia Inquirer
Citation
Main credits
Smith, Mitchell D (film director)
Smith, Mitchell D (director of photography)
Smith, Mitchell D (composer)
Githens, David G. (film producer)
Githens, David G. (screenwriter)
Moran, Tom (narrator)
Other credits
Editor, John Kallapos; music, Mitchell D. Smith.
Distributor subjects
Bird Migration; Birds; Conservation; Ecology; Environment; Invertebrate Zoology; Life Science; Life Science; Marine Biology; Oceans and Coasts; WildlifeKeywords
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Where it reads Beach on the New
Jersey side of Delaware Bay
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and every May this beach has
incredible juxtaposition of life.
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Horseshoe crabs coming up out
of the waters to deposit there
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a exam about a million shore
birds migrating nonstop
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from South America that
stop along the beaches for
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seven to 14 days to rest and to feed
on the boundary of horseshoe crab eggs
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I first became aware of this phenomenon in
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1977 when friends of mine
Jimmy and Jones Seberg
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who owned a house and del haven invited me
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to take a look at what they thought
was something pretty incredible.
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I went over and looked down on the
beach who they were absolutely right
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it was incredible incredible
ribbon of life that stretch
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from one horizon to another
and it was made up of writing
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turn stones and read not Sandra
Laing and semi-automated sandpipers
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They use our survivors.
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Survivors of an epic journey
through time and over Justin\'s.
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At one of the most dramatic
journeys in the natural world.
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For the 0s are limitless Polyphemus
the Atlantic for shoe brand
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These hatchlings will
continue and ancient saga.
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A striking symbol of the
interdependence of all species.
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It\'s late spring on the Delaware Bay.
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Plus shores had been invaded a feeding
frenzy driven by the need to survive.
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Beaches supporting a mass of
light that defies their size.
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What enables this spectacle the
answer is in the sand. It\'s a wash
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tiny eggs eggs that 4a leg between
vastly different species.
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They are of an ancient mariner.
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The Atlantic horseshoe crab.
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Horseshoe crabs are one of
nature\'s master designs.
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Their ancestors date
back 360 million years.
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Fossil record show they\'ve
changed very little
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Our true marine creatures.
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But they must leave their
marine domain to nest.
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And perhaps no other place can rival
the Delaware Bay as a nesting site.
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Here resides the largest
population on Earth.
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As many as 4 million adults
pie it\'s sandy bottom.
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Early in the spring they were back into
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Forces beyond Earth\'s boundaries
lunar forces on the tides.
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The warming ocean.
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Once near shore they await the high tide.
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Male suitors are firmly hooked on.
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About a third smaller what
is attached to each female.
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Others cluster around
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the females burrow into the sand
covering the lower half of their bodies.
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As many as 5 thousand eggs are deposited.
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When done the male is pulled across
and the eggs are fertilized.
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Horseshoe crabs are arthropods
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Harmless to humans they\'re
not true crabs at all.
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Their closest relatives
the spiders scorpions.
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Walking on ten legs the mouth
is right in the center.
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The legs pick up food.
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Food is then crushed at
the base of the legs.
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Specially adapted pincers called
jealous era push it into the mouth.
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Mollusks are a favorite
of the horseshoe crab.
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Delaware Bay offers a rich bounty
of Jim clams and hard clams.
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Like pages in a breeze book
gills fan the water for oxygen.
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Oxygen is then carried by blood that\'s
as unusual as the horseshoe crabs.
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It\'s copper-based and turns
blue if exposed to where.
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They have to functioning pairs of eyes
one set visible on top of the shell.
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Males have special hooked claws for
grasping the females during mating
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Though it looks like a weapon
the tail is quite harmless.
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Called a calcine.
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It is of utmost importance to the graph.
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As a way to right itself.
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Nesting is a time of peril.
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A cap size is life-threatening
upside down on the beach.
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The delegate gills can dry out.
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Many will not survive.
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But this is nature\'s plan.
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For the cramps have left
a legacy very Elor sand.
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Incubating quietly.
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In just a few days a
remarkable change happens.
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In the true style of the arthropods the
egg swell the green outer skin sheds.
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And an amazing images revealed life.
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Within a month the embryo will burst forth.
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The tiny crabs swept away by the tides.
With any luck
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there\'ll be back a decade later to nest.
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Most eggs are this lucky.
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They get washed up on the surface.
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But in nature nothing is wasted.
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Nothing without purpose.
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For the lost legs of one species
are now fodder for others.
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Vital for species unrelated
to the horseshoe crabs.
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Thousands of birds devour the loose eggs
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Several species by for space.
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Whether or not all here
for the same reason.
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Most apparent are the laughing goals.
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They are rockers antics dominate the beach.
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Nesting and nearby salt marshes.
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The eggs are an excellent
dietary supplement.
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The Cape May Peninsula all stir
largest colony in the world.
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Yet other speeches are gorging
for a different purpose.
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They\'re converting it into flight fuel.
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These other sandpipers voyagers from
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distant lands leaping continents on
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a staggering trip that will take
them to Arctic waiting wells
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Some were on the shores of
Patagonia two months earlier.
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They\'ve come from Argentina
Suriname Chile and Venezuela.
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Now they converge here.
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There are few places on Earth where
so many can be seen at once.
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Delaware Bay a vital link on the
rates north with 1500 miles to go.
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It\'s their last chance
to rest in the field.
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Migration synchronized
with the nesting grabs.
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For the red part the flight could\'ve been
nonstop from South America for days aloft
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and for 1000 miles over
open Atlantic waters.
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Here they\'ll double their body
weight in just two weeks.
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Crab eggs are converted to fat.
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Like fuel for a plane it powers
the flight to the arctic.
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No eggs no arctic no chance to nest.
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Running turn stones hunt
through the debris.
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They have a talent for turning
things over when foraging.
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And they\'re the only shore
bird to dig up the buried eggs
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And the
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tiny semi-automated
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sandpipers speed with precision
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done when fuel up as well
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Sandra scurry about their the
familiar sandpipers of the beach.
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Usually seen running along the surf.
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They all vanish my early summer.
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They also make the journey north
and won\'t return until August.
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A resident Willett tries to join in
about the size of a laughing goal.
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This big sandpaper nests
in nearby salt marshes.
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By early June the migrants vanish
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Told over a million shore birds will
have come and gone in barely a month.
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This great gathering is a
testament to the Delaware Bay.
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Though a major industrial port
it\'s remained a wild estuary.
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As a resource is used in many ways.
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Humans gathered to a joy
it\'s natural abundance.
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By treading likely that they are proving
that nature can be liable resource.
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Some uses pose greater dangers to debase.
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Huge oil tankers are offloaded
in the mouth of the bay.
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Spill could be devastating.
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Horseshoe crabs have been part of
the local economy for many years.
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Even today fisheries rely on them
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Used for Baden yield traps and
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counterparts demand by commercial
fisherman remains strong.
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Like any resource effective
management is essential.
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Horseshoe crabs are important
for medicine as well.
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A compound called lysate is
extracted from their blood.
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It was a breakthrough and testing
the purity of medicines.
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The crabs aren\'t killed in the process.
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Only a sample is collected then
they\'re tagged and released
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Continued protection of the
Delaware Bay is essential.
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We must be ever mindful
that it\'s a package deal.
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It means the entire
ecology not just elements
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we humans thinker appealing
or of economic value.
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Like many species horseshoe
crabs are not empiric
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often spoken up with
contempt called pass that
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beaches and sometimes useless useless.
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They are not for they are part of the
intricate web of life. On Earth.
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The crabs the birds the bay and humans
are essential parts of this web.
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Ultimately one can\'t
survive without the others