Posted by Laurie (New Jersey, United States) on 24 July 2007 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.
This was shot very early in the morning, around 6AM on a bayside beach in early June. In the Spring during high tides of the new or full moon the horseshoe crabs come ashore to spawn. This particular morning there were many that had come ashore during the night and were making there way along the beach and back to the water.
The two in the photo at the bottom of the frame were in the act of mating. The male, the smaller of the two, clings to the females spike or tail and fertilizes the eggs that she buries in holes she digs in the sand every few feet depositing up to 20,000 tiny pearly green eggs.
Please visit my other photoblog Capturethisphotography.com
This photo of the Bucknell Quad is a 2 page feature photo in the Summer 2008 issue of Bucknell Magazine.
Your comments are very much appreciated. I know the time and effort it takes to visit and leave comments and although I don't get to reply to them nearly as often as I like, please know that I do really appreciate them. You are what keeps me going. I make every effort to reply to questions but I may miss one or two and I apologize for that. If you really need me to get an answer to you quickly, the best way is to use the contact form on Am3.
As of July 2008 I have decided to post the same photos here as on Capturethisphotography.com but check the archives for photos not posted here.
VFXY Photos
great photo , and good information thanks
24 Jul 2007 1:24am
@hrg: Thanks.
Cool shot, and the pov and dof are great !
24 Jul 2007 1:47am
@ColNed Pictures: Thanks.
Great contrasts and a very good composition. I like this one!
24 Jul 2007 2:57am
@dee: Thanks.
thanks for showing me something new about our world today
24 Jul 2007 6:36am
@ttomasso: Your Welcome!
These guys are too weird! Great shot!
24 Jul 2007 7:02am
@Craiger: They are pretty strange.
great capture.. great tones. interesting process.
24 Jul 2007 7:41am
@Nick Passantino: Thanks.
Great shot Laurie...in all the years I have been to the beach I have only seen them, unfortunately, dead on the shoreline.
24 Jul 2007 7:47am
@Jen: Thanks. There were a few that appeared dead but when I tapped them they moved so I flipped them upright and they made their way back to the water.
great shot!
24 Jul 2007 7:49am
@badala: Thanks.
I like this in b&w. It works well.
24 Jul 2007 8:34am
@dawn: Thanks.
Great animals, it´s really a good shot and a quite instructive explanations. Thanks!
24 Jul 2007 8:42am
@adalove: Thanks.
Real nice Laurie! the black and white effect really suits the photo! ^^
24 Jul 2007 10:06am
@Koushiro: Thanks.
A shot back into prehistory. Wonderful work in BW.
24 Jul 2007 11:23am
@Viewfinder: Thanks.
Talk about primordial creatures! When I lived in Connecticut years ago these guys were all over the beaches. We used to pick them up by their boney tails to see what they looked like under that shell. Then we'd let them go and watch them scurry back into the water... the summer of youth :)
24 Jul 2007 12:00pm
@John Wilson aka MontereyJohn: Thanks. There were quite a few of them on the beach this particular morning. I really had never looked at them quite so closely before.
Those things are insane! Nice shot!!! :)
24 Jul 2007 7:27pm
@HorseRotorVator: Thanks. They are pretty strange things.
like the level of detail...nice bw...
25 Jul 2007 7:55am
@PhotoSam: Thanks.
Great shot and interesting information. That's what I enjoy about blogging. Variety and learning new things.
25 Jul 2007 11:59am
@photowannabe: I love learning new stuff too. Often when I shoot something I then research what it is I shot so I'm always learning something whether it's from reading others blogs or researching for my own. Thanks for the faithful visits. I always love it when I see your name pop up in my email!
Like little tanks...they are very strange looking creatures...only ever seen the shells before.
25 Jul 2007 3:17pm
@jasp: Thanks. I never thought of them that way but now that you mention it...
Not exactly X-rated, but still interesting!!!
25 Jul 2007 4:18pm
@John: LOL...thanks.
Wow that's pretty cool. I've never seen a live one.
25 Jul 2007 9:04pm
@DTW: Thanks. There were quite a few that morning. A lot of them were on their backs looking dead, but when I nudged them with my toe they moved so I flipped them over and they made their way back to the water.
wonderful - i would love to have been there to see those; they're like living fossils!
26 Jul 2007 2:13am
@david: Thanks. So true they look so ancient.
Very nice.
26 Jul 2007 7:52am
@Angry Buddha: Thanks.
Nice B&W shot.
26 Jul 2007 10:55am
@Saed: Thanks.
beautiful in B&W. nice frame too. Good job here.
26 Jul 2007 12:36pm
@Olaide: Thanks.
Creepy but interesting, the processing is fantastic not to forget the framing and the little off center placement of the crab. Very well done Laurie. Black and white here rocks.
26 Jul 2007 1:15pm
@Rahul: Thanks.
those are crabs - they look like some prehistoric creature! - nice capture
27 Jul 2007 12:31am
@Art Monkey: Thanks...yes they are and they are the strangest looking things. I should have shot the underside of one, didn't think about it though. Maybe next time.
This looks like a scene from "The Wrath of Kahn"! Fantastic image, Laurie.
31 Jul 2007 1:42pm
@amy: Thanks.
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NIKON D2001/125 secondF/3.2ISO 400277 mm (35mm equiv.)
crabhorseshoe
Parallel Universe
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#gallery 23ebca565209046cdb224bf57a0ff105
#gallery 64782004a614800c94d4d4e9843aff34
Parallel Universe