While I’ve encountered the remains and molts of adult Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs before this was my first meeting with the young of the species. It was so perfectly camouflaged that I only noticed it when it bulldozed through the sand in an effort to avoid getting stepped on.

I couldn’t resist spending a few minutes with this little one before releasing it on its merry way. While formidable in appearance even at this age, the tail (or telson), is mainly used for steering.