Digging in the sand one day on the beach, Zerphy found clear orbs with “alien-looking creatures swimming inside.”  Curious, he rushed home and researched them.  He discovered that they were the unhatched eggs of the Atlantic horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. Horseshoe crabs have lived on the earth for at least 450 million years.  These animals are especially important because their blood contains a substance called Limulus amebocyte lysate, or LAL, that can save human lives by detecting harmful bacteria in tests on surgical instruments and prescription drugs.

Alarmed to learn that the horseshoe crabs are threatened by human activities, Zerphy wanted to help protect them.  He began participating in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources project called “Horseshoe Crabs in the Classroom.”  He also created an awareness campaign, Planet Horseshoe Crab, with logo and information cards to spread the word that we share this ecosystem – we’re all connected.

Wanting to do even more he aided in creating the Chesapeake Conservation Center to protect the horseshoe crabs, and helped fund it with birthday and holiday savings. He also created horseshoe crab information bookmarks, pencils and t-shirts. To continue researching the crabs, he received an Aquatic Research Education grant.

Zerphy also met with the mayor to talk about how he could spread awareness to local residents and encourage them to help protect the crabs.  The mayor generously supported Zerphy’s efforts and had two of his information boards made and installed at the Annapolis Maritime Museum and Back Creek Nature Center.

Last fall Zerphy developed a Planet Horseshoe Crab curriculum, and the Annapolis Maritime Museum invited him to teach horseshoe crab ecology to first through eight graders.

Zerphy’s work continues.  In addition to conducting classes, he manages his organization and conducts surveys on the horseshoe crabs.  He organized and runs a Naturalist Club to connect people with nature.  He is also the student advisor for The Terrapin Institute, working to protect the dwindling sandy beach habitat critical to the preservation of terrapins and other species. He invites people to take a Diamondback Detour, the name of his awareness campaign for terrapins, to learn more about these creatures.  Zerphy also created another sign for the beach in Hillsmere Shores – the beach where he first found the clear orbs, the eggs that started it all.

After Rockefeller, Bob became a scientist, researcher and professor at Syracuse University for 28 years until the late 1990s, when he joined the faculty at Upstate Medical University. There, he was the driving force that established the Center for Vision Research, a group now that numbers 50 people and is the largest clinically focused research group at Upstate Medical. His leadership was critical in establishing the SUNY Upstate Foundation’s endowment to support vision research and the SUNY Eye Institute, a collaboration of all four SUNY medical schools performing vision research.

Bob had been the recipient of many awards, including the President’s Award for Excellence and Leadership in Research at Upstate Medical University in 2002, Senior Scientist Award-Research to Prevent Blindness in 2005, State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2007, and the ARVO Gold Fellow in 2009. He also held leadership positions on several boards, including being a vice president of the board of trustees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, on the board of trustees of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and a director for the Doreen Grace Brain Center in Mashpee, Massachusetts. He had been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, University of Cambridge in England, and the University of Tsukuba in Japan and had a long list of invited presentations as a lecturer.

He had been featured in many scientific journals and programs, including Nature Magazine, Discovery Channel and the BBC. His work has also been published in more than 103 scientific papers, and there are five more that will be published posthumously. And last, due to his thoughtful preparation, his important work on macular degeneration will be continued under the guidance of his colleagues at Upstate Medical.

Bob had many passions outside of the lab, most of which involved the water. He loved to swim, scuba dive and fish on his boat, the “Jimbo.” During the summers at Woods Hole, he made a ritual of swimming every day, usually off Nobska Beach, and even swam across Vineyard Sound and Buzzard’s Bay. Back in Syracuse, when not at home or the lab, he could be found in a pool swimming masters or heading to a Syracuse University basketball game. He was also an active member of the Pompey Lions Club.

Bob is survived by his wife, Patricia; his three children, Kimberly (Braith) Kelly of Connecticut, Jill (Mark) Bloom of Maryland and Jack (Alison) Barlow of Massachusetts; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; his brother, James Barlow; his sister Margaret Jane Lawson; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. Bob’s family has decided to hold a private service for immediate family members to remember his life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Bob’s name to either the Vision Research Fund, 311, Upstate Medical University Foundation, 750 East Adams Street, CAB 326, Syracuse, NY 13210 (315) 464-4416 or The Marine Biological Laboratories, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA 02543 (508) 289-4751.

“This year, we had so much more response from residents,” she said. It’s been a word-of-mouth process, said Baum, who along with her neighbors lives near some of the most productive beaches in the world for spawning horsehoe crabs.

Glenn Gauvry, president of ERDG, said the program is designed to engender a sense of trusteeship among beach community residents, encouraging them to care for the crabs that share their beaches. “This is not a state or federal program at all. It’s entirely a creation of ERDG,” he said.

“The idea was to start to engage the community in conserving this natural resource, the horseshoe crab. What better place to start a sanctuary than where these animals are coming to spawn,” he said.

State and federal protections are in place for some of the land along the Delaware Bay, prime spawning grounds for horseshoe crabs. But, Gauvry said, most crabs end up in people’s yards to spawn.

“The world’s most productive spawning beaches for horseshoe crabs are along the Delaware Bay. Some of the most productive beaches are here in Delaware,” he said.

So, ERDG works to educate community members, who in turn educate visitors about the ecological significance of horseshoe crabs and why it is important to give them a hand, by turning over stranded crabs, he said.

There is no program like it in the country, Gauvry said. So far, there are seven sanctuaries in Delaware and one in New Jersey. Broadkill Beach, Primehook Beach, Fowler Beach, Slaughter Beach, Kitts Hummock, Camp Arrowhead and Pickering Beach in Delaware and Fortescue Beach in New Jersey are designated sanctuaries, he said. ERDG estimates those communities are protecting more than 12 miles of key spawning habitat.

“People here in Delaware have really stepped up to the plate and said, ‘We’re going to take care of this resource,’” said Gauvry. They partner with scientists and researchers, helping to count crabs, as well.

It wasn’t long ago that people didn’t want the crabs on their beaches at all, because of the smell, he said.

Now, Gauvry said, communities along the Delaware Bay have mounted a heroic effort to save the crabs, whose eggs are a key food source for migratory shorebirds, including the threatened red knot.

By Leah Hoenen, Cape Gazette

Kuantan police chief ACP Mohd Jasmani Yusoff said the body of Mohd Nazri Ibrahim, 25, of Kampung Peramu here, was found by an elder brother at 12.20pm, about four hours after he had spotted personal items of Mohd Nazri at a spot on the coast.

The sibling had lodged a police report earlier, and a search-and-rescue team was despatched to look for Mohd Nazri, he said.

Bernama: Malaysian National New Agency

India: A deep-sea port at Dhamra, Orissa, being built by the Dhamra Port Company Limited in a joint venture with Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro poses a threat to Olive Ridley sea turtles and horseshoe crabs. Download the pdf.

Delaware: Horseshoe crabs famously lay millions of eggs along the beaches of the Delaware Bay each spring. Scientists are discovering they just as frequently spawn along sandy shores in the Inland Bays. Download the pdf.

Florida: Warning: This is a story about horseshoe crab mating, but it will zealously avoid such hackneyed attempts at humor as references to sex on the beach or romance under the full moon. Download the pdf.