In the wake of a global health crisis, it is worth taking a moment to appreciate the humble horseshoe crab. According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, “if you have ever needed a vaccine … you most likely benefited from the use of horseshoe crab blood.” The SCDNR would know—it is facing a lawsuit on the subject.
Horseshoe crabs are a common sight in South Carolina, a rural state on the south-eastern coast of the United States covering roughly the same area as Jharkhand but with a population smaller than Himachal Pradesh. The state’s coastline is a picturesque labyrinth of interweaving barrier islands, saltwater marshes and sandy beaches. Every spring, Atlantic horseshoe crabs converge here by the tens of
