Bottle Cap Challenge – No Kicking Just Picking!

Posted on July 6, 2019 by Admin11

The bottle cap challenge is a viral trend started by martial artist Farabi Davletchin. He was the first person to perform a precision spin kick and twist off the cap of the bottle using his foot. In 2017, I started a my own bottle cap challenge. The goal was to see how many twist top caps I could collect in fifteen minutes. Its an exciting challenge and I recommend getting others involved. Make it a friendly competition and document your beach trash finds using the Clean Swell app by Ocean Conservancy.

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 majority of it washes up from Korea, China and Japan

Next time your at the beach, take a minute and look around at the amout of single use waste on the beach. How do you feel when you see this waste?

Majority of the plastic bottles/caps that wash ashore become brittle and break down into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces (micro plastics) are harder to find and clean up.

Eventually these smaller pieces make it back into the ocean affecting the wildlife. Marine birds often mistaken and eat this plastic because it looks and smells like their natural diet (ex: fish eggs, crabs and small fish).

Even the marine fish will sometimes eat the plastic, they are attracted by the smell as well.

Hermit crabs are one of the few animals that can successfully adapt with our waste. They eventually move into this valuable real estate (plastic caps) and use it as a protective mobile home until they find a better option. Below are photographs of hermit crabs found naturally adapting with plastic twist caps.

This popular hermit crab was featured in honor of World Oceans Day 2019 on Stella McCartney’s website. Thank you all for bringing awareness to the plastic pollution problem.

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.

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 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.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

The lonely hermit crab adapting with a lug-nut cover by Shawn Miller

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Admin11

This week I went out camping with some friends on Miyagi Island. While searching for fire wood I stumbled upon a blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) adapting with a metal lug-nut cover. I have previously found many hermit crabs adapting with other man-made items such as pet bottle caps, glass bottles, light bulb ends, laundry detergent caps and various scoops. I was pretty excited about this and had to show off the interesting find to my friends.

The blueberry hermit crab is temporarily making due with the available lug-nut cover. It will eventually switch to a shell when it finds an appropriate size. If you would like to learn more about this adaptive behavior please check out my post on “Crabs with Beach trash homes”

* All Coenobita species on Okinawa are recognized as a living natural monument of Japan.

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I also photographed the hermit crab on white for the Meet Your Neighbours Project. The technique eliminates distracting elements out of the background and shows the true beauty of the animal. The images are used for conservation awareness and educational purposes.

Later I offered lug nut a Turbo seashell and within five minutes he switched over to his new home.

Okinawa hermit crab

We were fortunate to have beautiful weather. Don’t forget to get out for some Nature Therapy! We all need a break from our busy lifestyles.

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 below.

paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

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.

Crabs With Beach Trash Homes – Okinawa, Japan

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Admin11

Crabs with beach trash homes is a series I am currently working on. I photograph Blueberry hermit crabs (Coenobita purpureus) that have begun to use beach trash as their home. The crabs are photographed in their natural environment and also on white for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project. The images are used for environmental awareness and educational purposes.

Crabs with beach trash homes © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crabs are commonly found on local beaches in Okinawa. Most crabs are blue but occasionally have color variations of purple, pink, orange and or gray. They prefer to have a seashell as a protective home but when no shell is available they adapt.

Blueberry hermit crabs (Coenobita purpureus)

Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) with a seashell © Shawn Miller

Before plastic caps filled our shorelines, hermit crabs adapted using tree nuts if no shells were available.

Hermit crab and tree nut © Shawn Miller

It’s becoming more common to find crabs with beach trash homes. I have friends combing local beaches in search of more crabs for my series. While these are cute images, our trash is becoming a serious problem to the ocean and the animals that call the shoreline home. I often find hermit crabs using a variety of plastic caps from twist top pet bottles, laundry detergent containers, small propane tanks, sports water bottles and beauty supplies.

Possible reason why Blueberry crabs adapt with beach trash

Limited number of available shells causing them to make due with the best homes they can find. This is a good example of adaptive behavior.

Hermit crabs are very social animals and often fight over shells. Having a protective lightweight shell that covers the abdomen (soft parts of the animal) is crucial for survival.

Hermit crabs fighting over prime real estate © Shawn Miller

Battle over real estate © Shawn Miller

A close-up of the sensitive abdomen (photographed using the MYN technique)

Naked hermit crab © Shawn Miller

Hermit crabs are scavengers and take advantage of any food washed ashore. They mainly feed on dead fish, barnacles, other crabs, algae, insects, plants, fruit and various seeds. The screw pine (Pandanus odifer) is one of their favorite foods. I imagine long ago these vital plants lined our shorelines in abundance. Numbers are decreasing due to deforestation.

Pandanus odifer © Shawn Miller

Eventually the fruit drops to the ground and the sweet smell attracts the hermit crabs

Hermit crab feeding © Shawn Miller

The hermit crabs feed on the the fresh keys and help with seed dispersal. They both benefit in this relationship. The Pandanus tree provides shelter, shade, food for the hermit crabs.

Hermit crab and Pandanus © Shawn Miller

Eventually the keys dry, turn brown and litter the local beaches. The dispersed keys provide a perfect environment for hermit crabs to blend in with.

Where the treeline meet the beach © Shawn Miller

Hermit crabs prefer to be in a shell that protects the entire body from predators. Sometimes they have to temporarily adapt with a much smaller shell. The retracted hermit crab tightens up to protect itself. Ball up, play dead and blend into the environment, minimizing the risk of being preyed upon.

Could this be a form of masquerading or just coincidence ? It resembles (mimics) the shape of the screw pine seed to possibly avoid detection from potential predators.

Hermit crab and screw pine seed © Shawn Miller

Hermit crabs have the ability to ball up tight to protect their eyes. (Transformers)

Hermit crab retracted © Shawn Miller

Below are some of my favorite images photographed on a portable field studio board (MYN Technique). The crabs are safely placed on a white studio board, photographed and released back into the natural environment (MYN Technique).

Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) with cap © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) in plastic tube © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) in plastic top cap © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) in plastic © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crabs (Coenobita purpureus) in plastic cap © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crabs (Coenobita purpureus) in plastic top cap © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab- Ryukyu Islands © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab – Okuma, Okinawa © Shawn Miller

It’s important to photograph the hermit crabs in their natural habitat. I prefer to photograph them using a wide angle lens to achieve a unique perspective.

Meet zori -Wide angle macro © Shawn Miller

Hermit crab- Plastic pollution © Shawn Miller

Blueberry hermit crab, Wide angle macro © Shawn Miller

Meet scoop- Quaker © Shawn Miller

Meet shady – Worldwide trash problem

Hermit crab in a glass bottle- Yomitan, Okinawa.

Meet cassette -CWBTH © Shawn Miller

Airplane -Senaga Island ,Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Land hermit crab, Onna-Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Meet sparky- using a plastic cap from a cassette gas tank © Shawn Miller

Energy drink home- Trash homes © Shawn Miller

The rock climber -Northern Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Sunset Time – Yomitan ,Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Beach pollution- CWBTH © Shawn Miller

Tree climber- © Shawn Miller

Plastic pollution – beach trash © Shawn Miller

I also photograph the hermit crabs using a dedicated macro lens. I mainly use the Canon 60 mm or 100 mm macro lens to concentrate on the subject. These crabs are fairly small and it’s important to have a lens that will focus close and deliver high quality sharpness.

Laundry detergent cap - Northern Okinawa

School project ” Crabs with beach trash homes ” My family and I collected trash on a local beach in Onna village. This is just a small portion of our beach trash findings. The kids did a great job creating a project with impact.

Otis Brunner found this hermit crab flattened on a beachside parking lot. As you can see the plastic doesn’t provide much protection.

Behind the scenes photograph ” Crabs with beach trash homes ” I have documented over sixty crabs with beach trash homes. If you would like to see more images check out my Flickr account.

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

June 10th, 2010 was my first experience seeing a hermit crab with a trash home.

My series ” Crabs with beach trash homes ” has been featured on World Wildlife Fund, Petapixel, Business Insider, National Geographic, Atlas Obscura, Global citizen, Plethorist, Daily Telegraph, Little things, 15minutenews, Roaring earth, Hyperdojo, News.com.au, Follow news, Neotorama, BoingBoing, Insider, Activist, Now100fm and varies Scientific websites.

Planet or Plastic June 2018 featured

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

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.

Okinawa Nature Photography

沖縄自然写真 By Shawn Miller

Tag Archives: hermit crabs with beach trash

Bottle Cap Challenge – No Kicking Just Picking!

The lonely hermit crab adapting with a lug-nut cover by Shawn Miller

Crabs With Beach Trash Homes – Okinawa, Japan