Thousands of horseshoe crabs crowd Titusville beach in major spawning event

Howling winds. Water rising higher and higher up the shoreline.

It doesn't sound romantic but to thousands of horseshoe crabs, it was exactly that.

"This is a magical place," said Laurilee Thompson, a volunteer with "Linked with Limulus," a horseshoe crab watch progr with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Crabs come by the thousands to lay their eggs."

Thompson and other volunteers "count crabs. That's what we do," she said.

And last week, on Thursday, conditions were perfect for a major spawning — and crab-counting — event as the crabs came ashore at the Gator Creek Road Beach in Titusville. For the first time in two years, thousands of these prehistoric-looking creatures gathered at the beach, just south of the Max Brewer Bridge. It is considered one of the most important spawning sites in Florida.

By mid-afternoon, volunteers had counted more than 2,000 horseshoe crabs in what seemed to be a continuous stream.

"Crabs want to be able to lay their eggs high up on the beach so they are not submerged in water," Thompson said, noting the crabs need "damp sand."

That's what they found last week.

Ideal conditions.

One could say romantic, even.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Horseshoe crabs crowd north Brevard beach in major spawning event