The visitor from another planet crawls through mud on ten legs, guided by four eyes. Blue blood courses through its body, which is protected by a hard, robot-like shell. Defiantly, it crawls out of the sea, digs in the sand, and begins laying eggs. It is joined by millions of identical armored creatures. Is Earth doomed?
Suddenly, thousands of hot-blooded creatures descend from the sky and begin devouring the aliens’ eggs! Earth is saved!
A story from a comic book? Not at all. This is an annual event in Delaware. The planet the horseshoe crabs came from is Earth—some 280 million years ago. For horseshoe crabs have not changed much since the Early Permian Period, long before birds evolved. They are living fossils. Each year, thousands of migrant shorebirds feast on horseshoe crab eggs along Delaware’s shores. The eggs help the birds fatten up before they continue north.
Find Washington, D.C. on a map. East of our nation’s capital is an enormous peninsula called the Delmarva Peninsula. The southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula is part of Virginia. Most of the western and central portion is part of Maryland. The remainder makes up almost the entire state of Delaware, our second smallest state. The peninsula’s name comes from the first letters of these states—Del-Mar-Va.
Midway between New York City and Washington, D.C., Delaware is home to many people. It is bordered on the east by the Delaware River and Delaware Bay, which empty into the Atlantic Ocean. The surrounding waters give Delaware a mild climate. There are many farms, except in northwestern Delaware, which is quite hilly.
Water doesn’t just surround Delaware—it covers much of it. There are many small rivers, ponds, and marshes. One of the state’s better known wetlands is the Great Pocamoke, or Great Cypress Swamp, which lies along the south-central border. Marshes are found along much of the lower Delaware River and Delaware Bay. For this reason, most of Delaware’s ports are located higher up on the river.
Delaware played a very important role in American history. Its nearness to our nation’s capital and Chesapeake Bay enhance residents’ knowledge and appreciation of culture and Nature both. Though small, Delaware is of great value. That’s why it’s nicknamed the Diamond State.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Paperback
