What types of programs have been initiated to study blue crabs?
Understanding blue crabs involves studying them not only inside of laboratories, but also studying their activities in their natural environment. To learn about how crabs move around in the Bay, researchers often attach tags with identification codes to crabs’ shells and release them into the Bay. If a tagged crab is caught, the person who caught the crab sends the tag back to the researcher with information about when and where the crab was found. The researcher can use that information to better understand the crabs’ habits. Traditional Tagging The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is an example of an organization that has learned a lot about blue crabs using very little technology. After obtaining a number of adult female crabs from local watermen, the researchers attach plastic tags with serial numbers to the crabs’ shells and release the crabs back into the Bay. This study about crab migration shows researchers where reproducing crabs typically travel, as well as th
