The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Watershed Services Unit, in partnership with the Maryland Conservation Corps (MCC), US Fish and Wildlife, Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR), Towson University, and Sandy Point State Park, is pleased to announce another successful year of Raising Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom. This program is designed to give students hands-on activities that teach about a current aquatic natural resource management issue.

At the end of each academic year, schools may participate in one of four horseshoe crab release events. These events mark the culmination of months of study for students involved in the Raising Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom program, which teaches Maryland students about horseshoe crabs and the management of this important species. The releases are an opportunity for the students to celebrate what they have learned, release horseshoe crabs they have raised, and participate in a host of hands-on activities. At each event, students who were involved in the raising of the crabs visited several stations where they learned about the horseshoe crab’s life history, the ecological relationship between the crabs and migratory shorebirds, and horseshoe crab and shorebird adaptations for survival.