As part of the 2023 Underwater in Salem Sound lecture series, Salem Sound Coastwatch Associate Director Alison Frye will discuss horseshoe crabs Wednesday, April 19, 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the program room at Abbot Public Library and online via Zoom. Register to attend in person or on Zoom at tinyurl.com/APL-Horseshoe-Crabs.
Horseshoe crabs evolved almost 450 million years ago and are considered the “living fossils” of our time, surviving ice ages, asteroids and five mass extinctions.
Today, they continue to serve an important role, both ecologically and economically, as their eggs provide sustenance for endangered shorebirds, and their blue blood is used to advance biomedical research, according to Frye.
Though horseshoe crabs have endured these catastrophic events throughout earth’s history, their population is now in decline. Frye will discuss the importance of this elusive, prehistoric creature and how we can help it survive the next mass extinction.
Frye is the associate director at Salem Sound Coastwatch, where her primary focus is on coastal resilience and habitat restoration projects. She earned a BS in biology from Bates College and a MS in marine biology from Northeastern University. There, her research focused on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, specifically utilizing living shorelines to mitigate erosion in the Great Marsh.
Before coming to SSCW, Frye was a long-time science teacher and continues to teach a marine and climate science course to high school seniors at Waring School in Beverly.
For the past 11 years, Underwater in Salem Sound has been jointly sponsored by Salem Sound Coastwatch and Abbot Public Library.
All the lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, visit salemsound.org.
Additional information is also available at abbotlibrary.org, by emailing mar@noblenet.org or calling 781-631-1481.
