Hermit Crabs Wearing Plastic Waste Shells

Scientists say hermit crabs worldwide are ‘wearing’ garbage instead of natural shells. The scientists used images posted on social media to collate evidence of this emerging behaviour.

Wildlife photographer Shawn Miller took many of the images cited in the paper. Miller is an advocate for hermit crab conservation based in Okinawa, Japan. His #MTS4N (Make The Switch For Nature) campaign highlights the plight of hermit crabs and aims to discourage beachcombers from removing crab-friendly shells from local beaches by labelling them.

A 2022 report found that plastic waste could almost triple by 2060. But environmental campaigners hope that a UN agreement on plastic waste planned for later this year may help. Which would be good news for hermit crabs around the world!

'Hermit Crabs Wearing Plastic Waste Shells'

#MTS4N #environment #nature

References and credits:
Shawn Miller, photographer, #MTS4N campaign:
https://okinawanaturephotography.com
  / maketheswitch4nature_  

The plastic homes of hermit crabs in the Anthropocene, Zuzanna Jagiello, Łukasz Dylewski, Marta Szulkin, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 913, 2024:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...

Global plastic waste set to almost triple by 2060, says OECD:
https://www.oecd.org/environment/glob...

Planned UN plastic waste agreement:
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/n...

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