Fiddler Crabs

A photo taken by B. Astorino of the vegetation on the north side of the cove. The sixth counting took place on August 23, 2017. It was a sunny, very hot day with 10 mile per hour WNW winds. B. Astorino counted 7 crabs on the north side and D. D'Albero counted 12 on the south side. Lots of vegetation once again made it difficult to see every crab on Spermaceti cove.

The fifth count took place on August 4, 2017, a very beautiful, sunny day, with a few clouds. Because B. Astorino and D. D'Albero were both unavailable, M. Vasques stepped in and counted 178 crabs on the south side. Due to lots of vegetation on the north side, she did not count any crabs there.

A photo taken by B. Astorino of the mass amounts of vegetation on the north side. The fourth trip took place on July 21, 2017, a hot, sunny day. B. Astorino counted 42 fiddler crabs on the north side, while Diana counted 695 on the south side. Because of the lack of water on the north side, and lack of food as a result, the crabs moved to the south side. Continuing, the north side also had lots of vegetation, including Spartina, Seaside Lavender, and Pickle weed. 

Photo of the walkway of Spermaceti Cove taken by B. Astorino. Photo of the south side of the cove taken by B. Astorino. The third counting took place on July 7, 2017. B. Astorino counted 88 crabs on the north side and 92 on the south side. Both sides had a lot of vegetation, making it difficult to see if every crab had been counted. Also, the hours before the count experienced torrential rain, which could have caused disruption among the fiddler crabs. During the count, drizzling rain continued. Both of these factors make it difficult to know whether or not the counts for both sides are completely accurate.

A photo of the south side taken by D. D'Albero. A photo of the north side taken by D. D'Albero. The second counting took place on June 22, 2017. D. D'Albero counted 68 crabs on the north side and 438 on the south side. There were many people at Spermaceti cove that day, a potential cause of disruption for the crabs. On the north side, there was a lot of Ulva lactuca , which made it difficult to accurately count the crabs. The south side had a lot of crabs, potentially caused by the fact that the north side was drained of water, not allowing the crabs to feed there.

A photo of the north side of Spermaceti Cove taken by B. Astorino. The first counting took place on June 5, 2017, a cloudy day with mild heat. There were deer tracks spotted and lots of birds flying around, which could have disrupted the crabs.  We drove to the Spermaceti Cove during lunch with Ms. McDonald.  At the site, Ms. McDonald gave a run-down on fiddler crabs and how they mate.  On the boardwalk, I noticed many deer tracks in the mud. The vegetation on the North side of the site could not have been more than a foot tall. Even with a little bit of vegetation, it was difficult to spot the small fiddler crabs. I really needed to stare at the site and not move in order to, as Ms. McD says, allow the crabs to come to life. Once the counting began, it was easy to keep going. I counted in sections, every two posts being one section.    D. D'Albero counted 149 burrows on the south side of Spermaceti cove, while B. Astorino counted 243 fiddler crabs on the north side.