MTS4N 391 – Trading plastic 4 shells by Shawn Miller

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Admin11

Meet Jet Black, A blueberry hermit crab found adapting with a discarded plastic twist top cap.

The hermit crab was offered an assortment of shells. Jet Black made the switch into the donated seashell ” MTS4N 391 LIZA N MAGS OCEANBNB ”

I photographed the shy hermit crab in its new home, then released it back into the wild. Happy Crab – Happy Home!

I now keep all the twist-top caps that were used by hermit crabs. I currently have 107 caps that have been traded for shells ( #MTS4N Trading Plastic 4 Shells Collection )

As you can see our trash is a serious problem on our shorelines. Some organizations are doing great things making a difference but it’s not enough, We must all work together worldwide and attack this problem. We all have the ability to make a difference by reducing the amount of single-use items we use daily. Change can be difficult but I challenge you to make the switch 4 nature.

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Thank you Steven David Johnson for your support, Check out his stunning conservation photography.

Listen to podcast 753 Interview, discussing the hermit crab conservation project. Martin Bailey Photography

Would you like to give back to nature? Consider making a contribution to support my mission in Hermit Crab Conservation MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Do you have any seashells collecting dust at home? if so, consider donating them to the #MTS4N Project

Please consider making a small donation to support my mission

Have an awesome day! Shawn Miller

Hermit crabs living in plastic tubes by Shawn Miller

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Admin11

One of my favorite things to do is to go beachcombing after typhoons. Over the years, I have seen a significant increase in the amount of marine debris washed ashore. The trash is from all over the world, but the majority of it washes up from Korea, China, and Japan

The resourceful hermit crabs take full advantage of plastic tubes and twist top caps. They move into this valuable real estate and use it as a protective mobile home until they find a better option.

Hermit Crabs prefer to live in a natural seashell. Due to a decline in the number of seashells, the hermit crabs have to adapt with our trash to survive. Below are photographs of hermit crabs found naturally adapting with the plastic tubing.

Lucky was the first hermit crab I photographed adapting with plastic tubing. (2014)

The long plastic tubing slows down their movement. Not the ideal mobile home for a hermit crab.

Sometimes I find them living in clear plastic. Over time the plastic turns yellow and becomes brittle. Eventually, it will break up into microplastic.

Every hermit crab found adapting with our waste receives a new home (seashell). I bring a bucket with an assortment of shells with me on my beach hikes. The hermit crabs are placed in the bucket and make the switch. They get a better home and I keep the plastic.

I was surprised to find this small blueberry hermit crab using a jump rope handle as a mobile home. The crab switched into a tapestry turban shell (mts4n #29) immediately.

The hermit crab is one of the few animals that can successfully adapt with our waste. If you would like to learn more about hermit crabs adapting with our waste please check out my post on “Crabs With Beach Trash Homes” by Shawn M Miller.

This post is not to make people sad, guilty, or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines. Hopefully, these images will inspire people to change.

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands. – If you would like to join my journey, check out my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

I Finally Found the Yanbaru Kuina

Posted on November 9, 2019 by Admin11

When I tell people I am a nature photographer, they often ask me if I have ever seen a Yanbaru kuina. Friends are always so excited to tell me that they found a Yanbaru kuina in central Okinawa. I feel bad telling them the bad news. More than likely, they found a common moorhen. The common moorhen is often mistaken for the Yanbaru kuina.

The Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) has a bright red head shield, yellow legs with distinctive white feathers underneath. The Common moorhen is found near marshes, local parks and small rivers. This bird is very common in Okinawa

Scientific name: Gallinula chloropus
Common Name: Common moorhen
Distribution: Okinawan wide
Habitat: City parks, rivers and creeks
Diet: Vegetation and small aquatic animals
Average Size: 30 to 37 cm

The Difference: The Yanbaru kuina ( Okinawa rail ) has an orange beak with bright orange legs. The underneath is black with white bars.

The Yanbaru kuina is a flightless bird found in northern Okinawa. It is a protected species and declared a living natural treasure. It is currently listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as an endangered species. In 2012 populations of this endemic bird were estimated at 1500 by the Environment Ministry. As of October 2016 populations have declined to 480 mature individuals according to IUCN assessment.

Scientific name: Hypotaenidia okinawae
Common Name: Okinawa Rail
Japanese Name: Yanbaru kuina
Distribution: Northern Okinawa
Habitat: Forests
Diet: Small insects, worms, snails and fruit.
Average Size: 31cm
Threats: Habitat loss, and the threat of mongoose and feral cats.

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Gigantic Hermit Crabs Found On Okinawa

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Admin11

Last year, a friend and I stumbled upon a local beach with gigantic hermit crabs. All of the hermit crabs were found adapting with non-native seashells.

Indonesian hermit crab (Coenbita brevimanus)

Where did these shells come from? The shell shack

The shell shack is an old wooden shed filled with boxes of imported craft shells from the Philippines. The hermit crabs found an opening and took advantage of this real estate.

Polished muffin (Ryssota ovum)

The most abundant shell was the polished muffin (Ryssota ovum) land snail. This shell is native to the Philippines and is twice the size of any land snail on Okinawa. The muffin shell is a perfect mobile home for the land hermit crabs. It’s lightweight, durable and large.

perspective photograph

The hermit crabs were healthy and doing well. I didn’t see any hermit crabs adapting with plastic or any twist top caps.

Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

Land hermit crab (Coenobita cavipes)

I also found hermit crabs adapting with a variety of marine shells from the Philippines at the same location.

Babylonia arealata (Coenobita purpureus)

hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita cavipes)

Volema carinifera (Coenobita cavipes)

Melanella candida (Coenobita purpureus)

Casmaria erinaceus (Coenobita purpureus)

hexaplex cichoreum (Coenobita purpureus)

Turbo chrysostomus (Coenobita purpureus)

Tonna sulcosa (Coenobita cavipes)

Learn more about hermit crabs and adaptive behavior ” Crabs with beach trash homes ”

My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations. – If you would like to join my journey, check out my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

House Geckos of Okinawa

Posted on September 22, 2019 by Admin11

The house gecko is the most abundant reptile on Okinawa. They can be found in apartments, buildings, public restrooms, outdoor phone booths, and vending machines. In many countries, they are considered good luck in the home.

Scientific name: Hemidactylus frenatus
Japanese name: Yamori
Distribution: Ryukyu Islands
Habitat: Forests, apartments, and public restrooms
Diet: Insects and small spiders
Average Size: 50mm-67mm

Interesting facts about house geckos –

They have the ability to lay eggs on vertical walls
They have no eyelids
They can walk upside-down
When threatened they can release their tail
They communicate by making loud chirping sounds

House geckos have amazing night vision.

Their tongues are used for grooming, catching food, and searching for a mate.

They have specialized walking pads with tiny hairs called setae. These hairs allow them to stick to surfaces and even walk up vertical walls.

Geckos are often found around artificial light sources (vending machines). The lights attract insects during the night. A buffet for the geckos!

Geckos and other wildlife are found in public restrooms. The light source attracts a variety of insects. Always check the scene before you sit down, you never know what’s hiding behind the toilet.

During the day, geckos seek shelter in warm areas. House geckos are responsible for high repair costs on air conditioning units. They crawl on the AC circuit board and cause it to short circuit. Repair costs are very expensive.

House geckos usually lay only two eggs. This is a good example of a communal nesting site. These eggs were laid on a vertical concrete wall.

Geckos are often found crossing public roads during the night. Please pay attention to crossing wildlife. The ants took advantage of the roadkill.

I often find geckos on local beaches near the coastal forest. Juvenile Ryukyu odd-toothed snakes (Akamata) prefer to feed on these sand-dwelling geckos.

Even the geckos have to adapt with our waste. I found this gecko under a piece of marine debris washed ashore in northern Okinawa.

My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations

If you would like to help me make a difference Please check out my Patreon Site https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Fish Populations Decline At Maeda Point – Not A Good Sign!

Posted on August 11, 2019 by Admin11

I originally got SCUBA certified at Maeda Misaki in 1992. I have seen this popular snorkeling location drastically change over the years with the increase in tourism. Meada point is now a high traffic area, literally thousands of people enter the water on a given weekend.

Maeda misaki diving

If you have ever been to maeda point you have seen the beautiful schools of Teira batfish (Platax teira). In the late 90’s there were massive schools of hundreds of these beautiful fish. Below is an old photograph I found in my photo album. This was a common site back in the 90’s.

Teira batfish at Maeda misaki

In 2017, I noticed that populations started declining.

Schools of batfish

2018-2019, I started seeing numbers decline to less than twenty individuals. July 2019, I went to the same location on three different days and didn’t see any batfish.

Wide angle macro

These fish are a huge tourist attraction. What could have caused the decline of the batfish populations? Possible reasons for decline:

Feeding the batfish man-made products
Noise pollution from an increase in boat traffic
Moved on to a safer location
Overfishing
Contaminates entering the water – sunblock, shampoo, perfume and urine

Fu (wheat gluten)

In the past, guides would feed the fish sausage and bread. In recent years many local companies switched over to Fu (wheat gluten). It’s much cheeper than fish sausage. Kilos of Fu enter the water for fish consumption on a given week at Maeda point. Could this gluten based product be good for the fish? Why you should not feed wild animals:

Interfere’s with their natural diet and feeding cycle
Makes the fish more vulnarable to predators
Reef algae overgrowth due to the fish being full
Increase’s your chance of getting bitten

Sometimes, I see plastic bags filled will remnants of fish food floating on the surface of the water. With the increase in tourism, I am finding more trash left behind at Maeda Point. This is a photograph I took recently at Maeda point. A collector urchin (Tripneustes gratilla) is covering up with discarded sausage wrapper.

collector urchin

This is one of my favorite photographs taken at Maeda Point.

Beautiful bat-fish

Hopefully the teira batfish populations are not a blur left behind.

Fading away

My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations

If you would like to help me make a difference Please check out my Patreon Site https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Searching for the Amami Oshima Frog by Shawn Miller

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Admin11

The Amami Oshima frog is featured in National Geographic this month for the series ” Wildlife As Canon Sees It “

The Amami Oshima Frog (Odorrana splendida) is considered the most beautiful frog found in Japan. It is only found on Amami Island and is listed as an endangered species. It is one of the many endemic species facing extinction due to habitat loss. This protected species is designated as a living national treasure of Okinawa.

Scientific name: Odorrana splendida
Distribution: Amami Island
Habitat: Forest streams
Diet: Insects, worms, and millipedes
Average Size: 90mm-110mm

We were on the Island for a short period of time but managed to see eight Amami Oshima frogs. It rained the entire time but that didn’t stop us, we were on the mission to find the endemic species. I explored the island with Zoologist Valdimir Dinets and bat Scientist Jason Preble. We were fortunate to see the Amami rabbit, Amami Jay, Owston’s woodpecker, Hime habu, Ryukyu robin, Amami woodcock, Amami Spiny rat, Otton frog, Amami tip-nosed frog, Whip scorpion, Wood pigeon, Coral snake, Crocodile newt and the banded ground gecko endemic to Tokunoshima. Below are some of my favorite images of the Amami Oshima frog in it’s natural habitat.

We also found a small pond with Amami Oshima tadpoles.

Please pay attention wildlife crossing the roads at night.

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

The Canon 70D Is Back In Action!

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Admin11

Last month, I received a memory card lock error on my Canon 70D Body. I sent it off to Canon USA for repair. Canon replaced the shutter assembly and a few covers. They informed me that my 70D shutter exceeded the normal life expectancy at a total of 156,642. I purchased this camera body in January 2014. This camera body has been the most durable and reliable camera body that I have owned so far.

Canon 70D: Favorite features

Fully-articulated touchscreen
High ISO capabilities
Responsive auto focus system
Lightweight and compact

Below are some of my popular photographs taken with the Canon 70D. Featured in National Geographic, BBC, WWF, IUCN, and Scientific publications.

: Planet or plastic -NatGeo

: Okinawa Woodpecker

: BBC – fluorescence Okinawa

: WWF -Crabs with beach trash Homes

: Japanese workbooks – Okinawa nature

: Kuroiwa’s Ground Gecko

I often use the Canon 70D to photograph fluorescence in the Yanbaru forest. This is a custom setup I use to photograph flowers and animals.

Fluorescence photography setup -Shawn Miller

The equipment I use for my Series “Crabs With Beach Trash Homes”

Canon 70D
Tokina 10-17mm
L&M Stella 2000
Canon 270ex flash

Shawn Miller – Crabs with beach trash homes. photographed by David Orr

Thanks to Canon USA for the great customer service and quick turnaround!

Amami Woodcock- The Birds of The Ryukyu Islands

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Admin11

The Amami woodcock (Scolopax mira) is considered a prefectural bird of Amami Island. They are a rare species mainly found on Amami and Tokuno islands. These ground dwelling birds are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list of threatened species.

Scientific name: Scolopax mira
Distribution: Amami, Tokuno and Northern Okinawa
Habitat: leaf littered forests
Diet: Beetles, crickets, moths, spiders, and worms
Average Size: 34cm – 36mm
Threats: Habitat loss and the introduced mongoose.

The Amami woodcock is a master of camouflage. It crouches down low and limits its movements in the leaf litter. When predators approach the woodcock will fly away in most cases.

In this case the female has chicks that she has to protect.

We managed to see one sub-adult, it quickly followed its mothers lead and fled the scene.

The mongoose is the biggest threat to the wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands. It was introduced to the Ryukyu Islands in the1900’s In order to reduce the venomous habu populations. All the islands are still battling this never ending problem.

All the photographs of the Amami woodcock were taken from the car through the back seat window. In the beginning, I had difficulty with the cameras auto-focus system. I adapted by mounting a Light&Motion GoBe light with a 500 search head to my tripod collar. This allowed the auto-focus system to be extremely responsive using the Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM.

People often ask me what is the purpose of conservation photography? Having the ability to affect some form of positive change in the environment and make a global difference with the photographs. Hopefully, the images will inspire people to care more about nature and make a positive difference in the environment.

Learn more about the Light&Motion GoBe Exploration light https://www.lightandmotion.com/choose-your-light/gobe

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Get Fa-Millerized with the Nature of the Ryukyu Islands – – – – SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Earth Day 2019 Okinawa

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Admin11

Happy Earth Day 2019,

This post is not to make people sad, guilty or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines.

As you can see our trash is a serious problem on our shorelines. Some organizations are doing great things making a difference but its not enough, We must all work together worldwide to attack this problem.

We all have the ability to make a difference by reducing the amount of single-use items we use daily. Change can be difficult but I challenge you to Make The Switch for Nature

Three items that can make a huge impact are:

Reusable thermos instead of single use
Reusable bag instead of a plastic bag
Metal utensils instead of single use plastic

I also recommend volunteering in a community beach cleanup at least once a year. Its important to see the amount of trash for yourself!

Hopefully this post will inspire you to make a positive change.

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

Mission

To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Get Fa-Millerized with the Nature of the Ryukyu Islands – – – – SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Okinawa Nature Photography

沖縄自然写真 By Shawn Miller

Tag Archives: conservation and wildlife photography by Shawn miller

MTS4N 391 – Trading plastic 4 shells by Shawn Miller

Hermit crabs living in plastic tubes by Shawn Miller

I Finally Found the Yanbaru Kuina

Gigantic Hermit Crabs Found On Okinawa

House Geckos of Okinawa

Fish Populations Decline At Maeda Point – Not A Good Sign!

Searching for the Amami Oshima Frog by Shawn Miller

The Canon 70D Is Back In Action!

Amami Woodcock- The Birds of The Ryukyu Islands

Earth Day 2019 Okinawa