New horseshoe crab license plate benefits Delaware environmental groups

If you ever wanted a 450-million-year-old arthropod with 10 eyes and a pointed tail on the back of your car, now is your chance. 

Delaware has rolled out a new license plate featuring the iconic horseshoe crab on a coastal backdrop. The plates are $50 and can be purchased online or in-person at Delaware Department of Transportation’s Division of Motor Vehicles locations throughout the state. 

The environmental license plates benefit two nonprofits in the First State, with 70% of proceeds directly supporting the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.

"Both organizations conduct scientific research and surveys in the Delaware Bay and the Delaware Inland Bays, critical habitats for horseshoe crabs and the shorebirds that rely on their eggs each spring," according to a press release from Delaware Center for the Inland Bays on Monday.

Every May and June, horseshoe crabs come ashore by the thousands to spawn on the sandy beaches along the Inland Bays. The marine arthropods are often called "living fossils" because their bodies have remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years — well before dinosaurs existed. 

"Delawareans can embrace their First State heritage and support a good environmental cause by purchasing a license plate featuring our very own living fossil," per the release.

For more information about purchasing the plate, go to dmv.de.gov.

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