Horseshoe Crabs Thrive in Protected Area in the Philippines, Becoming an Unexpected Symbol of Resilience

Marine biologist and wildlife Laurent Ballesta took some dazzling photos of horseshoe crabs for the August 2022 issue of National Geographic. The photos show several horseshoe crabs thriving in a protected area in the Philippines, kicking up sediment and hiding ecosystems beneath their shells.

These unique marine creatures can grow 14 to 19 inches depending on their gender and have survived in the ocean despite the cataclysmic events in the past 450 million years.

Horseshoe Crabs Identified As Threatened Species

Horseshoe crabs face the same perils of modern life that other species are experiencing. According to MailOnline, overfishing and coastal development affect these sea creatures and threaten their populations.

Pharmaceutical companies see these crabs as a crucial resource for making medicine for humans. Their blue blood is collected because of its clotting agent that makes vaccines safe. However, bleeding them could kill them and tri-spine horseshoe crabs have lost more than 50% of their populations in the past 60 years.

Blue blood is the only known natural source of the Limulus amebocyte lysate, a substance that detects endotoxin that can cause deadly effects on the body, National Geographic previously reported.

Every year, drug companies would round up Atlantic horseshoe crabs and bleed them before returning to the oceans. However, most of them die afterward, causing a decline in the species in the region in the past decades.

In 1990 alone, biologists estimate that around 1.24 million horseshoe crabs were caught in Delaware Bay, a famous egg-laying spot and collection point of pharmaceuticals. Although it dropped to 333,500 in 2002, the population of horseshoe crabs remains low, which is why the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified them as threatened species.

Horseshoe Crabs Thriving in the Philippines

According to National Geographic, horseshoe crabs are built to last for many years with their spiky tails, shells like combat helmets, and sharp pincers at the end of their 10 limbs. They have lived for over 450 million years and survived the asteroid that killed dinosaurs.

However, it seems that surviving human activities are proven to be far more difficult than the extinction events in history. Fortunately, the species seem to have found a place where they could survive.

The Philippine islet of Pangatalan is a marine protected area where the species have started to thrive again thanks to the efforts of conservationists that restored the reefs and trees on the island, leading many animals to return. Even giant groupers that grow up to 8 feet can be found there.

Before it became a protected area, the island's 11 acres were destroyed as humans cut down trees for timber, mangroves were burned for charcoal, and overfishing using dynamite and cyanide are rampant. But now it has once again become the home for animals and sea creatures, like horseshoe crabs.

Although these unique sea creatures are not as charismatic as elephants or pandas, they inspire humans to care for the wildlife because of their great contribution to vaccine development. But conservationists hope that people's concerns would translate to stronger habitat protections and wider adoption of using alternatives of the blue blood from horseshoe crabs.

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