Cracking Crab Claws - AnnahBelle

A plate full of cooked stone crab claws is a 'beautiful thing to behold'. But once they're cooked ... how do you get to the sweet, white meat?

AnnahBelle ( 10 years old ) is going to show you a technique we use in our house for cracking crabs.  Works get. Especially with kids

Editor's Note: She's going to show you how to "eat" them as well !!! 

Determining Male or Female - by Sarah

Part of the data that the SKC's need to collect is a count of how many crabs are males and how many are females.

Females with the blazing orange egg sponges are easy to recognized.

 But how do you determine the difference if there is no sponge. Sarah ( age 8 ) explains.

Father's Day Interview

Kelly Golden of WSC 94.3FM did another interview with Capt.Dad on the Carolina Now radio program.


 " Father's Day Interview"


It is no stretch to say, that these three precious children, along with their lovely mother, provide daily blessings to my life beyond any ability for words or hugs to express.

SCK's get a new DNR representative.

Those that have been following the SCK's for some time now may remember our SCDNR contact, Jason Powers.  Well, Jason was offered some fancy, smancy job in some far away land called Washington DC.  He will be assisting states in the development of renewable energy resources.  Jason was a great help and a friend to us.  He will certainly be missed by all.  However the SCK's are now blessed to have Kim Counts working with us. And, the kids already thinks she's terrific.

Kim went for her first ride along with the SCK's as we pulled prospect pots in our continuing effort to find stone crabs along the inland waterways. And for the first time in weeks .... we had stone crabs in our traps.

Now comes the opportunity to figure out why they are hanging out in this particular area.

Possibilities may be:
1. Food Sources
2. Water Temperature
3. Saturated Oxygen Levels
4. Salinity
5. ?

If you have an idea we would love to add it to our list. stonecrabkids@comcast.net

The area in which we found them was a large open shoal along the ICW ( Intracoastal Waterway ) called Wadmalaw Sound. There are loads of oyster banks and the bottom is muddy but fairly hard. Interesting note: the first prospect pot we pulled was right up against an oyster flat and not a single crab. We thought we were going to have to search out another area. Then just across the sound up against another flat .... booyah!  Harvestable size stone crabs.  Big males like the one AnnahBelle is holding as well as females with egg sponges.  No apparent difference in habitat ... just opposite sides of the sound.  Why? That question will drive us nuts!

But not as nuts as pulling empty pots.  Booyah!