Moonlight Crab Count

Leena and her mom go on a boat ride to a beach where they will count horseshoe crabs under a full moon. They are citizen scientists who are helping scientists track the horseshoe crab population. When the horseshoe crabs come onto the beach to lay eggs, Leena and her mom count how many there are and will send their data back to the scientists. Horseshoe crabs are important because birds and sea turtles eat the eggs to survive and medical companies use their blue blood to test medicines. Leena and her mom count all night.

I really liked Moonlight Crab Count because it talked about a species that I don’t know much about. I did not know that horseshoe crabs have blue blood and that they are used to test medicines. In the back of the book, the author included more facts about horseshoe crabs as well as about being a citizen scientist. I have learned about citizen scientists in the last few months, and it was neat to see another way that citizens can help. I would recommend Moonlight Crab Count to kids who like to learn about animals and want to be scientists when they grow up.