Imagine yourself snorkeling through a lush kelp forest off the coast of Southern California. Sunlight filters through the dense canopy of the forest, casting shimmering patterns on the rocky seafloor below. The underwater world appears peaceful and still—until your gaze falls on what seems to be an ordinary-looking rock.

Then… the rock moves.

At first, you assume it’s just the ocean’s current shifting the rock. But as you take a closer look, you realize it’s not a rock at all. It seems to be a crab, expertly hidden with bits of algae from its surroundings. Meet the decorator crab: a master of disguise and possibly the most stylish and secretive crab in our ocean.

What are decorator crabs?

Decorator crabs constitute several species of crabs that belong to the superfamily Majoidea, a group of crustaceans with a remarkable talent for camouflage. They use tiny, hook-like structures on their shells to attach pieces of algae, seaweed and other marine debris onto their bodies. But this isn’t just a quirky fashion statement—these natural accessories help decorator crabs avoid predators, like pacific halibut, octopuses and sea otters, by blending in with their surrounds. 

If they move to a new environment, decorator crabs will adapt their wardrobe to match. Some take their disguises a step further, attaching living organisms like sponges and venomous anemones to their carapaces—the hard upper shell that protects the crab’s vital organs. This not only helps the crabs blend in but also offers an extra layer of defense. Even when they shed their exoskeleton in a process called molting, some crabs will carefully transfer their decorations to their fresh shell.

You can also identify decorator crabs because they are decapods, meaning they have ten legs—two pinchers for feeding and four additional pairs of legs for walking. Decorator crabs are primarily omnivores and use their pinchers to pluck small algae out of crevices and off the sea floor. 

Decorator crabs are solitary animals for most of the year outside of mating season from May to September. You’ll find decorator crabs in shallow coastal waters around the world, from coral reefs and rocky shorelines to kelp forests, seagrass beds and tidal pools. You may have to keep a close eye out for decorator crabs, though, as their average size is only three to five inches across their leg span.

How can you help decorator crabs?

While decorator crabs aren’t currently endangered, they depend on a thriving ocean to survive. Like all marine life, they face threats from pollution, habitat destruction and climate change. Protecting our ocean means protecting creatures like them.

Ocean Conservancy is dedicated to safeguarding our ocean from today’s greatest challenges, from plastic pollution to climate change. But we can’t do it alone. Visit the Ocean Conservancy Action Center to learn how you can help defend our ocean, its wildlife and the communities that depend on it.

The post Master of Disguise: The Decorator Crab appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

Master of Disguise: The Decorator Crab

Barbara ‘Wáahlaal Gidaak Blake is the Vice President for Ocean Conservancy, leading the Arctic & Northern Waters Program. A dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental stewardship, she has an extensive background in Alaska Native policy and governance, having served in key leadership roles at the state and tribal levels. With deep roots in Haida, Tlingit, and Ahtna Athabascan heritage, she is a passionate cultural practitioner and a committed leader.

Our food is so much more than calories and nutrients. Our favorite dishes connect us to people, places and times that matter in our lives. For Alaska Native Peoples, our traditional foods do all this and more. For us, food is not just a matter of what we eat, but also the ways we gather that food, the ways we store and prepare it, and the milestones in our lives that center around food. It connects us to our ancestors, demonstrates a balance of care for our non-human beings (our kin in the natural world) and is our connection to our spirituality in maintaining that balance.

Our ability to carry on our ways, to sustain the cultures and knowledge that have existed for countless generations, is too often minimized if not directly threatened by today’s systems of managing lands, waters, hunting, fishing and gathering. Understandably, caring for and stewarding our lands, waters and non-human relatives requires a holistic approach that honors the interconnectedness of the natural web of life. Keeping plant and animal populations healthy is an essential foundation for human life. Economics also factors in: What value do we gain from a healthy environment and what is the cost of keeping it that way? Culture, however, is all too often ignored.

In a recently published essay, Ocean Conservancy staff joined several Alaska Native authors and researchers who have long worked with Alaska Native communities, to explore what it would mean to place Indigenous cultures at the heart of wildlife and fisheries management. This is not to ignore ecology and economics, but simply to recognize that among many possible decisions, only some have the effect of supporting Indigenous cultural vitality and continuity. In other words, we have choices about who can harvest fish and animals, who can access lands and waters. Those choices matter. It is also a reminder that as we center the continuity of cultural relationships with the natural world, we are protecting the entire web for all who depend on continued harvesting for their ways of life.

K’alaagáa Íihlangaa (Nathaniel) Blake harvesting Gagán xil (Labrador tea) with his mother, grandmother, and little sister.

Long-term solutions require lasting, respectful relationships with our surroundings and all those with whom we share our planet. Indigenous Peoples have demonstrated what it takes to create and sustain those relationships for centuries and millennia. Today, more than ever, we need to pay close attention to those hard-won lessons. Making choices that celebrate and uplift cultural practices of Indigenous peoples is the best place to start. This approach is central to Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic and Northern Waters conservation work. Please join us in sharing these ideas with all who care about the future of our ocean.

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Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Management

This blog was co-written by Dan Berkson and Hannah De Frond. Hannah works with Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto Trash Team to manage the International Trash Trap Network (ITTN), a global network of local groups using trash traps to increase cleanup efforts, engage communities and inform upstream solutions.

Plastic pollution devastates our ocean, and its impact on marine wildlife—especially seabirds—is severe and far-reaching. Seabirds breed on land but search for food at sea, bringing them into frequent contact with plastic pollution accumulating both along shores and in surface waters worldwide. Unfortunately, ingesting plastics can prove to be deadly for these amazing animals.

Eating plastics for seabirds can obstruct their digestive systems, preventing them from eating actual food, and leading to starvation. Sometimes it takes only one piece of plastic to block the passage of food. Plastic ingestion has been found in every family of seabird. Below are details on how some species are uniquely impacted by plastic pollution.

• Northern fulmar: Northern fulmars are surface feeders, diving into the ocean to snag prey. Unfortunately, their foraging habits bring them face to face with floating plastic fragments which they mistake for food. A 2015 study in the Arctic revealed a staggering 90% of northern fulmars studied had plastics in their stomachs. These creatures are so prone to eating plastics that both the Canadian government and OSPAR Commission (the mechanism through which the European Union and 15 other governments cooperate to protect the North East Atlantic marine environment) use this species in their monitoring programs to track long-term trends in ocean plastic pollution. 

• Short-tailed shearwater: Short-tailed shearwaters are also particularly vulnerable to plastic pollution, frequently consuming both rubber—such as balloons—and hard fragments. A 2014 study in Tasmania found plastic in the stomachs of 96% of short-tailed shearwater chicks studied.

• Laysan albatross: The Laysan albatross skims the ocean surface with its beak to hunt for prey. This hunting behavior makes it likely that the albatross will accidentally consume plastic debris like consumer products (e.g., hard fragments, lighters, buttons) or fishing lines. Adult albatrosses also feed their chicks by regurgitating food, unknowingly passing plastics on to their young. A heartbreaking 1997 study on Midway Atoll, a remote Pacific island, found 97.5% of Laysan albatross chicks had plastic in their stomachs.

• Petrel: More than 50% of petrel species are listed as “threatened” or “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Petrels often inhabit areas with high concentrations of plastic pollution such as the high seas and mid-ocean gyres. Unlike other seabirds, they struggle to regurgitate plastic. This means the plastics they ingest tend to remain in their bodies for extended periods. 

What can you do?

If we fail to take action, studies predict that 99% of seabird species will ingest plastic by 2050, which is devasting given how vulnerable seabirds are to even the smallest amount of plastic. Ocean Conservancy is committed to protecting our ocean, wildlife and communities from plastic pollution. But we can’t do it alone. Here is how you can join the fight: 

• Reduce plastic use: To tackle our plastic pollution crisis, we need to use less plastic. We can each do our part by avoiding single-use plastics where possible in our daily lives from carrying a reusable water bottle and bag to skipping a straw. These small actions add up and collectively reduce the amount of plastic waste we create, while sending a clear signal to plastic producers that we are fed up with single-use plastics. 

• Clean up plastic pollution before it enters the ocean: Cleaning up plastic waste, whether on the beach, along a river, or in your neighborhood park, helps eliminate the likelihood that it will later be consumed by seabirds or other marine life. One of the best ways to do this is by joining the International Coastal Cleanup^® (ICC). Use our map to find a coordinator planning a cleanup in your region. Want something closer to home? Team up with friends and family to clean up your favorite beach or beloved park. If you see plastic on beaches, shores or elsewhere, remember to clean it up—it could save a seabird’s life.

• Push for policy change: Advocate for legislation to address plastic pollution by holding corporations accountable for the waste they create, expanding support for reuse and refill systems and much more. Visit Ocean Conservancy’s Action Center to see how you can get involved.

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Plastic Pollution’s Toll on Seabirds