The Chesapeake Bay's Newest Resident ... Stone Crabs

It stands as a "spit" of land, a peninsula jutting out from the shore of Norfolk, Virginia where the James River reaches the Horse Shoe Plat section of the Chesapeake Bay. Its name comes from Thomas Willoughby, who received the land via a grant from the English king in the early 1600s. 

Over time, Willoughby Spit has been developed, with homes, businesses, highways and even a marina being built in the area sandwiched by its shores. However, nearly four centuries later, there is someone -- or something else -- looking to lay a stake to the waters around the spit. 

Stone Crabs. 

They have now reached the southern waters of the Chesapeake Bay. They too have become residents of Willoughy Spit.

It would be natural to ask, "who cares," or to mutter, "so what." But, the presence of stone crabs, even in the southernmost reaches of the Chesapeake Bay, says a lot about what is going on around us, especially with respect to our environment and our climate. 

For those who love to eat crabs, they may have encountered "stone crab claws." Crabbers harvest stone crabs and remove their claws, thereafter returning the crabs to the water where they can regrow the claws over a year or two. The harvested claws then make their way to stores and restaurants -- like Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab -- who feature the claws on menus. Stone crab claws are not cheap, with an order running from $45.00 to $125.00 depending upon the size of the claws. (The cost is a subject best saved for another post.) 

Yet, stone crabs are -- or were -- predominantly a "Florida" thing, because the crabs thrive in the warmer waters around the Florida peninsula. Until very recently, the entire stone crab market was basically built around Florida, with the crustacean being unquestionably linked to the Sunshine State. However, as ocean temperatures have risen in recent years, the crabs have been migrating northward. First, it was the shores of Georgia, then it was the shores of the Carolinas. Stone crabs migrated northward because the water temperatures have increased. In fact, temperatures have increased off the shores of North Carolina by as much as 9 degrees Fahrenheit.  The warmer waters result in what experts call the "tropicalization" of the environment. In the case of the stone crabs, it expands the habitat in which they could live and thrive. Thus, over recent years and decades, stone crabs have migrated further and further north, past Georgia, South Carolina, and, now, even North Carolina. Stone crabs are now setttling in the southern waters of the Chesapeake Bay. 

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science ("VIMS") has been documenting the increase presence of stone crabs in the Chesapeake Bay, cataloguing at least our such crabs having been caught off of Willoughby's Spit, as well as reports of stone crabs being found in other parts of the bay. It's not necessarily an easy effort, as there are many crab species already in the bay that look very similar to stone crabs, such as Jonah crabs and Atlantic rock crabs. 

Source: Tripadvisor

The experts at VIMS do not believe that the stone crabs will pose a threat to the blue crabs. The two types of crabs can co-exist. Stone crabs tend to burrow, while blue crabs move around. Moreover, while stone crabs eat the same prey as blue crabs and mud crabs, both of which are indigenous to the Chesapeake Bay, all of the crabs have co-existed together. That has been the case in the waters off of North Carolina for some time. 

However, the bigger threat may be something other than the stone crab. It may be the tropicalization of the water. As temperatures increase, that may be helpful for the stone crab, but it may be harmful to other marine species, like oysters and clams. Those rising temperatures also affect fish by impacting an important food source, plankton.  It is a threat that needs to be tracked, like the voyage of the stone crab, but also addressed. 

Until we do more to address the change in our climate, there will be more stories about migrating spcies. Cue the mangrove fiddler crab ....

PEACE.

P.S.: Photo at the top of the page from Maryland Matters (courtesy of VIMS).