This photo and the larger phenomenon it stems from breaks my heart. Hermit crabs recycle the abandoned shells of sea mollusks that wash up on the beach after their original creators and inhabitants live out their natural lives. Over the decades, humans have collected most of these beautiful sea shells, taking them home as mementos of their visit to the beach. Problem is: What about the hermit crabs? The crabs have to change shells every so often as they outgrow the last shell/home they found, but because most of the larger shells have been taken from their natural habitats, they are eventually unable to find new "homes" to hermit in. Desperate crabs end up using whatever they can find, including -- as can be seen in the photo above -- plastic trash pill bottles that come in with the tides. This is a sad commentary on human beings for many reasons. First we rape and pillage nature, and then we rub salt in the wound by polluting it. Anyway, I'd like to request that if you happen to have any seashells lying around your home or hidden in a cabinet (maybe long forgotten), PLEASE bring them back to the beach. That is where they belong. Think how much more amazing our beaches would be with beautiful seashells crawling around their shady edges. After all, that is the way Mother Nature intended it to be...
Won't somebody think about the hermit crabs?!!
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