I collected a bunch more amphipods and mud yesterday as I was exploring the muddy tide pool. There are thousands of baby horseshoe crabs but the mud there is shoe sucking mud and you sink up to your knees and lose your shoes. I am surprised the crabs like it.
It's places like that which keeps horseshoe crabs abundant in the Long Island Sound but unfortunately, the horseshoe crabs are less every year. I used to see dozens of adults hanging around or mating. This year so far I have seen one adult.
Their muddy habitats are slowly disappearing to condo's and parking lots. The place I go is a wildlife preserve but it is only about 200 yards long which isn't real big and the part the crabs spawn in is not much larger than a medium size home.
Even the fiddler crabs are disappearing. I still find maybe a hundred or two there, but I used to see thousands.
I also have not seen a hermit crab there in a few years and they used to be very common.
I still collect mud there for the bacteria and I am sure that will always be available.