North and South River Watershed Association

Horseshoe Crab Counting -- 2025

Thank you for your interest.

All training dates for this year are complete, with no further trainings planned.

Unless you've gone through a training this year OR you are an experienced Horseshoe Crab volunteer from previous years, please DO NOT SIGN UP FOR ANY SHIFTS.

We welcome you to join this project next year; to ensure you get early notice of sign-ups and training next year, be sure to indicate your interest in Citizen Science and Horseshoe Crab Counting in your volunteer registration form (which you can modify at any time).

This May and June, for the 17th year, in partnership with the MassBays National Estuary Partnership Program, the NSRWA will be conducting horseshoe crab spawning surveys in Duxbury Bay. To do this, a team of 3-5 volunteers walks/wades along a ~800 meter stretch of the Duxbury Bay shoreline north of the Powder Point Bridge.

The team uses poles and rope to define a 5m x 5m square, and crabs inside the square are counted, sexed, and the different clusters in which they are arranged (single crabs, pairs, larger groups) are noted. This process is then repeated in approximately 40 squares along the shore.

Surveys occur around the full and new moons in May and June. There are three daytime surveys ( late morning, midday, and early afternoon) and three nighttime surveys (late evening, midnight, and early morning).

If you would like to volunteer to help with the 2025 surveys, please select your desired day(s) and shifts below. Please note carefully that some shifts occur very late at night or very early in the morning.

We are asking all volunteers to sign up for no more than 5 shifts.

There will be training sessions held at Duxbury Beach, at the East end of Powder Point Bridge, on Thursday, May 1 at 1:30 PM and on Sunday May 4 at 4 PM for new volunteers and those who need a refresher. Note that there are questions below the shift selections for you to indicate your experience level and training needs and selection.

Please note that you must be able to walk on sand for about a mile, and that you will be getting wet feet at a minimum (one team member usually is also in the water up to their waist as well).

Thank you in advance for considering volunteering for this important project!