Virtual: Invasive Green Crab Training

Join us online for this virtual classroom session to learn how to identify the invasive European green crab and conduct molt search surveys on WA State beaches. This online training is open to anyone and will equip you to find and identify invasive European green crabs at your local beaches. You can also register to join us in person on Orcas or Lopez Islands for continuied in-field trainings in June.  If you have questions please email Jess Newley, Commuity Science and Edication Director at Friends of the San Juans, jess@sanjuans.org.

Invasive European green crabs are voracious eaters that threaten our shellfish beds, clamming beaches, and nearshore habitat for salmon. Join Friends of the San Juans and Molt Search in this effort to monitor our beaches for signs of European green crab presence by searching for their molts. This 1-hour workshop will teach you how to identify the crab molts, where and how to conduct a 20-minute Molt Search survey, how to report your findings using a mobile app, and how to collect additional (optional) data on Dungeness crab molts.

The detection of European green crab molts could be an early indicator of the presence of European green crab in the area.  If community scientists, volunteers, shoreline landowners, and beachgoers knew what to look for, they could provide valuable information that would help to guide future Crab Team monitoring and trapping efforts.