Volunteer Resources

Protocol in Focus: Why do we measure native crabs, too?

June 18, 2024

Why Measure Native Species?

When it comes to interactions between crabs, whether of the same species or of differing species, size matters. When crabs run into each other out on tide flats, in lagoons, or channels, they might compete for food or shelter, or they may actually try to prey on each other. In these encounters, the general rule of #CrabLife is that bigger crabs win over smaller crabs. So knowing the size of not only green ...

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Protocol in Focus: Why do we measure European green crabs?

November 17, 2023

We are Crab Team after all, so it’s perhaps no surprise that we are not shy about getting up to our elbows in details about the crabs we catch. But what can we actually learn from looking at size data of crabs? What makes handling all the angry pinchers worthwhile? 

We’re covering this rich topic in two issues of Protocol in Focus. This time, we’ll shed light on what we can ...

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Protocol in Focus: Where does the data go?

August 17, 2022

This year marks Crab Team’s eighth monitoring season, a fact that completely blows our minds. Some of the Crab Team sites have been systematically sampled since we kicked off in August 2015. As this long term ecological dataset grows even longer, it becomes increasingly valuable to look at changes over space and time. 

Lest you start to imagine us swimming in our vault of datasheets like Scrooge McDuck Read More

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Protocol in Focus: Is it a molt or a dead crab?

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

The molt ...

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Protocol in Focus: How do we steward Crab Team sites?

In addition to creating a scientifically robust sampling scheme, and one that is sensitive to finding green crab when they are rare, Crab Team also put a great deal of thought and guidance into the protocol with the goal of being good stewards of Washington’s shorelines. Even though our goal is to detect green crab as they first arrive and help avoid ecological damage, it is certainly true that the act of sampling itself can be a disturbance to a site. ...

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Protocol In Focus: Why do we estimate the roots of vegetation?

June 3, 2019

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology. 

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Protocol In Focus: Why do we use mackerel as bait?

September 10, 2018

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

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HEOR or HENU?

May 11, 2018

HEOR or HENU? Crab Team volunteers know it’s one of the most challenging questions we face during sampling. Telling hairy shore crabs (HEOR) apart from purple shore crabs (HENU) can be very tricky, especially when all you have is two tiny molted carapaces. It’s not only shore crabs; several groups of crabs can be tricky to distinguish from each other, even if you know what you are looking for.

As you learn a new set of species, whether it’s birds, ...

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Protocol In Focus: HEOR Parasites

May 10, 2018

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

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Protocol in Focus: What Happens to My Data?

November 21, 2017

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

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Protocol in Focus: Why do we survey the habitat transect every month?

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

Of the three Crab ...

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How to Get Your “Eyes on the Beach” Like a Pro

October 6, 2016 

The recent captures of invasive European green crabs, the first documented in Washington’s Salish Sea, have garnered a lot of recent media attention. We are thrilled that local residents are eager to help protect shorelines from this global invasive species and have set about looking for European green crabs as they walk the beach, paddle the waters, and pull up crab pots. Given 2,500 miles or so of shoreline, this network of “Eyes on the Beach” is critical to ...

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Protocol in Focus: What is “live epifauna”?

September 8, 2016

One strength of the Crab Team protocol is that it enables us to confidently compare findings among different sites, and track changes over time – even if different people are doing the sampling. With sampling on this scale, even the small steps can be important to what we learn from the data. The Protocol in Focus allows us to expand on these details, and offer an opportunity to see all the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into methodology.

One of the most challenging parts of creating a sampling program ...

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