What Happens When Hermit Crabs Confuse Plastic Trash for Shells?
A recent study found that almost 600,000 hermit crabs died in the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean. Researcher say the beaches of these Islands are "literally drowning in plastic" and they have an estimate of about 414 million pieces of trash. While the research team was cleaning up the trash they realized there were hermit crabs trapped inside many of the bottles and containers. Scientists say this is another negative effect of man made pollution, similar to the plastic straw and turtle issue.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/12/05/what-happens-when-hermit-crabs-confuse-plastic-trash-shells-an-avalanche-death/
Reflection: I think this article brings up a very important issue which is pollution and especially pollution in the ocean. It has affected many different ocean-dwelling species and is slowly deteriorating our environment. I think scientists should come up with a solution to construct more products from biodegradable materials.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/12/05/what-happens-when-hermit-crabs-confuse-plastic-trash-shells-an-avalanche-death/
Reflection: I think this article brings up a very important issue which is pollution and especially pollution in the ocean. It has affected many different ocean-dwelling species and is slowly deteriorating our environment. I think scientists should come up with a solution to construct more products from biodegradable materials.
I feel like this article is something that most people do not take the time to notice. Many people do not think of the future of our Earth since they most likely will not be around when we are bearing the repercussions of pollution and climate change hit us the hardest. 414 million pieces of trash is no laughing matter and until everyone who shares this planet realizes that, we are stuck in the constant cycle of pollution and watching our world deteriorate before our eyes.
ReplyDeleteThe article does a great job of bringing attention to effects of pollution that are often times looked over. Although the main focus of pollution at the moment is on sea turtles and other animals consuming plastics, the main damage of pollution comes with the destruction of underwater vegetation and environments. These crabs are using plastics as shells because they naturally believe that the plastic is there because it's a shell, and they don't realize the harm it does to them until it's too late.
ReplyDeleteThis article does a great job of showcasing how what people do is harming wildlife. Us as humans can do a much better job of taking care of our environment because this is just terrible. Picking up out trash is something so simple that can possibly save a lot of wildlife. Overall, I agree that we should us more biodegradable materials because aster reading this, I don't think people should continue to use plastic the same way we always have.
ReplyDeleteThis article is an excellent example of the types of articles more people should be reading. If we would just simply take the time put our trash in the recycling, or even use reusable containers, bottles, straws, etc. We could start to fix this planets pollution issues.
ReplyDeleteI think it's sad that animals are confusing plastic and debris for resources that they need to survive. The fact that we can't stop ourselves from polluting the ocean and the rest of the earth is frightening. We only have one planet, and we continue to abuse it, yet we don't care about who will suffer from the consequences of our actions.
ReplyDeleteThis article definitely addresses an issue that many people aren't aware of. It helps to bring light to that fact that our oceans are becoming more and more polluted everyday.
ReplyDelete