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Nature Cruise Offers Close-Up Looks at Assateague's Wonders
 | | Ponies walk a trail on Assateague Island. |
Capt. Steve Meadowcroft lifts a wire-frame cage crawling with crustaceans, their claws snapping. "We're going to show you the ugliest crab you've ever seen," he says.
True to his word, Meadowcroft retrieves a brown-shelled crab from the cage
and plops what looks like an overgrown spider in the middle of the aisle of
the boat, eliciting groans from even the adults among us.
"Oh, that is ugly," my daughter, Chelsea, observes, stretching to gain a
closer glimpse of the hairy creature as it makes its way toward the stern of
the Discovery, a 52-foot pontoon boat.
The aptly named spider crab is one of a parade of creatures - marine and
otherwise - my family and I learn about aboard Discovery Cruises, one of
several nature tours offered in and around Ocean City. Like the Discovery,
most afford the opportunity to see ospreys, pelicans and other birds and, of course, the famous wild ponies of Assateague.
I figured a little hands-on activity would keep my daughters, Courtney, 15, and Chelsea, 11, intrigued. Maybe they'd even catch a crab, as they explored the sandy shoreline.
The Discovery chugs out onto the bay, offering close-up looks at deep-sea fishing boats, marinas, sprawling waterfront houses and condos before crossing the Inlet to Assateague, a few miles and a world removed from the bustle of Ocean City.
With a naturalist and a live “touch tank” aboard, Meadowcroft, a former commercial crabber, and his youthful crew promise to teach us about
the fragile eco-system along Maryland's Atlantic Coast.
The Discovery offers that and more - we learn something about the history of Ocean City and Assateague Island – derived from an Indian name meaning "little land across big water" – as we ply the shallow waters of Sinepuxent Bay toward the barrier island and its famous wild ponies.
Just how did the ponies get there anyway? Meadowcroft doesn't know. But he shares a couple of theories as we catch our first glimpse of the ponies - a stallion and his harem, six mares - grazing near the water's edge.
 | | Courtney Tasker | | Visitors on the Discovery trip comb the shoreline for marine life. |
One theory is the horses swam ashore after the wreck of Spanish ships
off the coastline a few centuries ago. Some believe tax-evading colonists hid the horses -- and other domestic animals - on the island. They've
long since adapted to drinking salt water - any freshwater on the barrier
island comes from rain.
"When you look at them, they look extremely bloated. It's the high salt
content in their diets," Meadowcroft says, his voice rising above the
buzzing of passing jet skis.
The highlight of the 90-minute excursion is the landing on Assateague.
Everyone kicks off their socks and shoes and wades into the cool water, nets
in hand, hoping to catch small crabs, snails or other marine life. We're
instructed to drop whatever we catch into a communal bucket, the contents to
be shared on the trip back.
My daughters don't have much luck catching anything but a few small crabs
and some snails. Even so, they have a lot of fun combing their nets through
the sand and sifting through the grains to find signs of aquatic life.
This trip proves not only educational but also a respite from the frenetic pace of Ocean City’s beach and Boardwalk.
Before we board the boat for our return trip, a young woman who is a Discovery naturalist and her mate take their turn combing the shoreline with a big net, each holding one end as they wade through the water, hoping to catch whatever our group has missed.
It's clear some in our group were luckier than Courtney and Chelsea.
As we cruise back to First Street and the bay in Ocean City, the crew shares
the morning's treasures: jellyfish, snails, crabs, minnows and starfish.
 | | Courtney Tasker | | Ospreys nest near Assateague. |
They're divided into containers and passed among us, with Meadowcroft
offering tidbits about the creatures.
We learn, for instance, that there are many types of jellyfish swimming the waters in and around Ocean City, and the ones with colored tentacles are the stingers. Long after our trip ends, I overhear Chelsea share that nugget of information with friends and relatives as she recounts our adventure.
Before we depart, Meadowcroft provides one last lesson, demystifying a sea
creature with a "terrible, nasty reputation": the horseshoe crab.
"The horseshoe crab does not bite," he says. "You see them on the beaches in Ocean City. If you find one, please pick it up by the front
of its shell and toss it back in the water. Don't pick it up by its tail."
Meadowcroft implores us to save these creatures, which have inhabited the earth for hundreds of millions of years but are now threatened by fishermen who use them for bait. He explains that the horseshoe crabs are critical to medical research, and their eggs are a vital source of food for shorebirds.
We’ll never look at a horseshoe crab – or the fragile barrier island and its other inhabitants – quite the same way.
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Other Stories by Greg Tasker
Inn Is Oasis Amid Boardwalk Bustle
Ripley's Back Where it Once Belonged
The Bonfire's Tantalizing 100-foot-long Buffet
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