A local wildlife conservation group is encouraging Delaware beachgoers to lend a helping hand to struggling horseshoe crabs they see.
Millions of horseshoe crabs come to the Delaware Bayshore each year to spawn.
But not all make it back to the water after they’re done, said Glenn Gauvry, the president of Ecological Research & Development Group. Heavy wave action and a high volume of horseshoe crabs in an area can leave hundreds of thousands stranded upside down.
"After the tide goes out and horseshoe crabs go back with tide, there will be a whole number of animals that will be stranded upside down," Gauvry said. "And unfortunately they’re not very good at getting themselves right side up."
The "Just flip 'em" program started in 1998. People all along Delaware's coast and around the world participate.
"The Just flip 'em program is really just a simple act of compassion to bend down and just flip the animal over," Gauvry said. "And if you do that, it will go back into the water and you've saved a life."
ERDG was joined by Delaware's Senior U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D) in Slaughter Beach on Friday, as Carper helped a couple of spawning horseshoe crabs back into the water.
"It's amazing to think that there's a creature that comes here on a regular basis to these beaches," Carper said. "It's been on the face of this Earth for millions, millions of years — back to the dinosaurs, and maybe even before."
Anecdotally, volunteers have flipped over tens of thousands of horseshoe crabs along the Delaware Bay each year, saving lives, Gauvry said.
