My wife and I were down in North Wildwood, New Jersey on vacation back in October 2025. We’re avid beach walkers and will walk the beach 1-2 times a day while we’re there. We love North Wildwood and try to get down 3-4 times a year. Matter of fact, next year when I retire we’ll be looking to buy a small place down there. It’s like a second home to me and my family.
While we were there we discovered over 200 deceased horseshoe crabs lying on a stretch of the beach in North Wildwood. About a 1/4 mile of the beach was a horseshoe crab graveyard. It was extremely upsetting to see. We’re nature lovers, especially when it comes to the Jersey Shore and the Atlantic Coast.
We went up into the dunes to photograph some of the tags that we saw on the crabs. There’s a website that you log into and report the tag number, the status of the crab (dead or alive) and where you found the crab and/or the tag. We logged in and reported 3 of the ones that we saw that day that still had tags on them. The tagged crabs were part of a research program conducted out of the state of Maryland.
If you’re a beach walker and you come across a tagged horseshoe crab…please photograph and report it to the website listed on the tag. We can all help to do our part when it comes to conservation.