Tuesday, June 14, 2011

It's Horseshoe Crab Time


Yesterday, I spent the day around the beach house finalizing some cleaning chores before the rental season starts this weekend, and as the late afternoon came on I decided to get out and enjoy some beach atmosphere. I headed north first stopping in Bethany for a few iPhone pics, then Dewey for some gas and on to Rehoboth for some Dolle's Caramel popcorn and some boardwalk pics with the iPhone..(but thats another blog) After enjoying some time out I headed back as the sun was low in the sky and pulled into Tower Road south of Dewey to catch the last of the setting sun over the Rehoboth Bay. I noticed when I left Rehoboth that the moon was just about full. A quick check on the iPhone confirm yes at 98%. I love the way the full moon casts its light on the ocean! But even more I love the way the full moon in May and June brings the Horseshoe crabs to shore for their annual egglaying event! If you don't live anywhere near where the Horseshoe crabs live then you probably have not witnessed this amazing event. The link above details everything you ever want to know about the crab so I won't bore you with the details, but all I can say is it has been going on for 540 million years!!!! I can't even fathom that! So these pics are a few from last night. Having said that I have never seen these guys along the shores of the Rehoboth Bay. They must have traveled in through the Indian River from the Atlantic. Amazing! All these shots were made with my 70-200 mm lens with pretty shallow depth of field and selective focus. The crabs come ashore as the sun goes down so the light is very low. The crabs are constantly moving in their ritualistic way as the high tide tosses them ashore sometimes tipping them upside down as the waves roll in.



No comments:

Post a Comment