Richard, even if the entire rufa Red Knot population
is not 100% dependent upon Delaware Bay and NOT 100% dependent upon
Horseshoe Crab
eggs to complete their migration and subsequent reproduction in the Arctic
is it not a shame to even risk damaging such fascinating and unique
phenomenon for the sake of moneymaking? What good does an academic quibble
do as to whether the Knots will die out in 2010 or not? Surely you do agree
that the Knots suffered heavy losses as a result of crab fishing? The
Delaware Horseshoe Crab spectacle has always been on top of my list of
natural wonders to see at one time in my life but now regrettably it seems a
dream lost.
Norman

Richard S. Heil>   The extinction by 2010 claim is ridiculous on it's face.
I don't need to
> read the paper to know that.   If they made the claim, which I believe
> thay
> did (or NJ Audubon, Del. Audubon, and all the others fabricated the
> citation?) then the criticism remains.  If they did not make the claim,
> why
> are they allowing all of these groups for the past three years to state
> that
> they have?
>
>  Do you believe rufa Red Knots will be extinct in less than three years?
> The belief that the current empirical data supports the idea that rufa Red
> Knots will be extinct by 2010, in less than three years, is ridiculous,
> and
> I have difficulty believing that any competent scientist actually believes
> this.
>
>   Let me ask you exactly how will rufa Red Knots become extinct in less
> than three years?  Even in an extreme hypothetical, if Delaware Bay ceased
> to exist, even if Horseshoe Crabs disappeared from the planet tomorrow,
> rufa
> Red Knots would not become extinct in three years.  Knots do eat other
> prey
> besides crab eggs, and there are other estuaries and beaches besides those
> of Delaware Bay.  I understand the implications and requirements of the
> very
> long distance migration of the majority of rufa Red Knots, but other
> portions of the population winter much farther north (than Argentina)
> including in the US, and employ very different migration strategies than
> the
> Tierra del Fuego segment of the population.  Even the Argentine population
> is capable of altering their migration strategies, and utilizing other,
> less
> optimal migratory sites if crab eggs are depleted.  I'm sure they are
> doing
> this now.  These and other factors such as a poor Arctic breeding season
> has
> dramatically reduce the population to a lower level, but imminent
> extinction
> is not an issue.   Do you believe that the entire rufa Red Knot population
> are 100% dependent upon Delaware Bay AND 100% dependent upon Horseshoe
> Crab
> eggs to complete their migration and subsequent reproduction in the
> Arctic?
> To claim that ONE site and ONE prey item, though clearly important to
> maintaining the population at historical levels, is an absolute limiting
> factor necessary to the complete survival of the entire race, is
> ridiculous.
> Knots are not that much of a specialist.