This creature is ancient. It’s been around more than half a billion years.
But why would someone be hauling every horseshoe crab it could find into his boat? Where is he taking them and what happens when they get there?
If those questions popped into your mind too, then you’re just the kind of person with whom I’d want to share a boat ride.
Blue bloods
As it turns out, the blood of a horseshoe crab is valuable. How valuable? How does $15,000 a quart strike you?
A horseshoe crab’s blood is in high demand because it is used to screen every drug, implant and medical device before it is used in humans.
In short, it’s used to test for bacterial contamination. The blood, which is baby blue in color, saves countless human lives every year.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160319/PC12/160329981/1002/horseshoe-crabs-x2019-blood-saves-lives
http://archive.is/POx5Q