Horseshoe crab mating season is here, and the FWC wants your photos

Horseshoe crabs will soon begin their shameless ritual of fornicating on Florida beaches, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wants you to document all of it.

Every spring, like college kids from around the country, horseshoe crabs show up to Florida’s sandy beaches for unbridled partying. But loss of mating habit and over fishing have resulted in a significant decline in their population, which is why documenting this whole process is so important.

Any public shell bumpin’ you come across should be reported. So snap a photo and reach out to FWC either through the online survey, by emailing horseshoe@MyFWC.com, or by calling 866-252-9326.

This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2017.