The Okinawa Sea Turtle Festival is on October 21st at Zanpa Beach. The Churamura Okinawa Sea-Turtle conservation organization hosts this fantastic event. Please join the fun. The event will start at 11:00 a.m.
All kinds of fun events for the kids to enjoy.
Give back to nature at the Hermit Crab Conservation Workshop, which starts at 16:00.
Shawn Miller created Make the Switch 4 Nature to spread joy + inspire change + save lives. His photography documenting hermit crabs adapting with plastics has been featured in National Geographic Magazine & inspired thousands to #TakeTrashNotHomes.
SHELL DONATION DRIVE: Do you have unwanted shells at home? Bring them to the Sea Turtle Festival and drop them off at Shawn’s MTS4N booth on October 21st from 1100-1700 on Zanpa Beach. The Okinawa Sea Turtle Festival is FREE, but donations to support Shawn’s work are appreciated.
Learn more about Churamuraand the fantastic work they are doing!
Meet Zerocare, A blueberry hermit crab found adapting with a discarded plastic twist top cap.
The hermit crab was offered an assortment of shells. Zerocare made the switch into the donated seashell ” Zerocare MTS4N 282 ”
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 105 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.
Would you like to give back to nature? Please support our Hermit Crab Conservation Project. MakeTheSwitch4Nature
Listen to podcast 753 Interview, discussing the hermit crab conservation project. Martin Bailey Photography
Thank youZEROCAREfor your support, You are making a difference by providing sustainable options and Protecting Our Oceans. Keep up the Great work!
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 the mission
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.
Make the switch for nature
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.
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.
