Shawn Miller began Make the Change 4 Nature (MTS4N), a crab conservation task, to give hermit crabs the homes they are worthy of– real seashells. Regrettably, if a hermit crab can’t find a suitable shell, it’ll utilize whatever it can discover, including plastic garbage people leave behind at the beach.
Plastic waste is harmful for marine life, and while a plastic cap or other piece of garbage is much better than no security at all, the crabs prefer (and are worthy of) something better. That’s why Miller and other pals of MTS4N in Okinawa, Japan bring around a handful of contributed shells to use hermit crabs they discover living in trash.
When offered some alternatives, a hermit crab will ditch its garbage home and select a proper shell, normally within a half-hour or less, depending on how picky it chooses to be. Because hermit crabs’ bodies don’t make their own shells, they need to utilize the empty shells of other animals to secure their soft bodies from predators. As they grow, hermit crabs “trade up,” switching smaller shells for larger ones.
Miller states lots of people don’t recognize they’re eliminating a prospective home for a hermit crab when they collect shells along the beach. In the lack of shells, it makes good sense that these animals will look for an option– something that’s plentiful on the beach. Sadly, that’s typically plastic garbage.
Learn more about the task in this Instagram collab video and by following MTS4N on social media:
Did you know that gathering seashells could rob a hermit crab of a home?
Shawn Miller is out to keep hermit crabs out of plastic trash and in the homes they deserve– real seashells.