Source : travel.detik.com
Jakarta - Animal lovers are busy posting photos of hermit crabs from various waters around the world. There is one similarity that appears, namely the shell of the hermit crab!
Reporting from the BBC on Saturday (27/1/2024), hermit crab shells have evolved. They no longer move to used snail shells, but instead to plastic waste that enters the sea.
These photos were published in the Journal Science of the Total Environment. This fact looks very heartbreaking.
Marta Szulkin, an urban ecologist from the University of Warsaw, said that hermit crabs' plastic waste shells were becoming the new normal.
"Instead of the beautiful snail shells we usually see, they opted for a red plastic bottle cap on their back or a piece of light bulb," Szulkin said.
He and colleagues at the University of Warsaw, Zuzanna Jagiello and Lukasz Dylewski, found a total of 386 hermit crabs using 'artificial shells', aka rubbish, especially plastic lids.
"According to our calculations, ten of the world's 16 hermit crab species use this type of protection and this has been observed in all tropical regions of the earth," he said.
So far, they have not been able to provide information about the risks of marine debris for the health of hermit crabs. Moreover, they are small crustaceans in the vulnerable category.
"When I first saw these photos, I felt very sad," Szulkin said.
At that time, he thought that humans should understand that animals have always used what was available to them. This internet-based ecological study reveals that the use of artificial shells is a global phenomenon.
"We see it in two-thirds of all land hermit crab species. That's what we can identify just using pictures taken by tourists," he said.
The researchers say the findings open new questions about how coastal crustaceans interact with and use plastic. Entire groups of crabs have adapted to scavenge and use discarded snail shells to protect their fragile bodies.
"If the supply of shells is limited, crabs will fight over the shells," he said. Researchers say that natural snail shells are decreasing in nature. Szulkin suspects that trash is an artificial alternative because it is easier to find.
"And lighter plastic shells may even help smaller, weaker crabs survive because they are easier to carry," he said.
More and more plastic waste enters the marine environment every day. A recent study seeking to quantify the scale of plastic pollution estimates that at least 171 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the oceans.
This number could almost triple by 2040. However, a glimmer of hope emerged from the signing of a global agreement in 2024. Researchers hope that the agreement can end the scourge of plastic and can bring change.
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