Smithsonian.com

Horseshoe crabs spawning in the bay, by Nick Tucey (Fredericksburg, Virginia)

For a few weeks between late May and early June, horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay storm the shoreline to spawn, and it’s a spectacle that spoke to the creative side of photographer Nick Tucey. “I wanted to capture the action of waves crashing upon a pod of horseshoe crabs,” Tucey says. “This photo is important to me because it captures an amazing wildlife event that occurs in the mid-Atlantic for only a brief time each year. My wife and I enjoyed watching and photographing this ancient species—which predate the dinosaurs—as they came ashore. We also assisted a number of horseshoe crabs that were stranded in the rocks and stuck upside down so they could crawl back into the Bay to continue their life-cycle.”

Tucey’s snapshot is one of 50 images selected as finalists in Smithsonian magazine’s 8th annual photo contest. You have until March 31, 2011 to vote for your favorite photographs, and the winner—along with the category and Grand Prize winners chosen by Smithsonian editors—will be announced July 1, 2011. And if you’re an aspiring shutterbug yourself, consider entering your work into the 9th annual photo contest, which is open for submissions until December 1, 2011.