Florida Horseshoe Crab Watch (FHCW) is a standardized citizen science program, started in Cedar Key by the University of Florida (Dept. of Biology, UF IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, and Florida Sea Grant) and FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) in 2016. FHCW takes advantage of beach nesting behavior to collect valuable information about breeding horseshoe crabs. Volunteers walk a known section of beach at predetermined times and count the number of horseshoe crab mating groups observed. A subset of the crabs are collected, tagged with a small, numbered disc, and released back to the wild. Reports of tagged horseshoe crabs help track crab movements, reappearances on beaches, and population numbers.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
