Molt Blitz with Harbor WildWatch

Harbor WildWatch invites the public to assist in WSU Extension and Washington Sea Grant’s “Molt Search” program, a participatory science initiative to combat the growing concerns about the invasive European green crab. The European green crab is considered to be one of the world’s worst invasive species and it threatens the overall health of Washington’s marine waters. Only a small fraction of the suitable nearshore habitat for this animal can be monitored by Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team and the WDFW-led coalition of tribal co-managers and partners.

The Molt Search program enables the public to help protect local marine waters by monitoring shorelines throughout the Salish Sea by teaching volunteers simple, standardized steps for searching and reporting on the presence and absence of European green crab molts (the empty shell that gets left behind as a crab grows larger). Molts can serve as an early indicator of the presence of European green crab in a new area and the more eyes on the beach, the better. In addition to better understanding European green crabs, this training also is an opportunity to fill in data gaps about the iconic Dungeness crab. We hope that YOU can be part of the early detection team!