Scientists will unleash an army of crabs to help save Florida’s dying reef

stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to News@lemmy.world – 234 points –
vox.com

Not all heroes wear capes. Some are crabs.

35

According to the article, the crabs have been bred in an environment without predators. Therefore they have to train the crabs how to protect themselves in order to survive in the coral reefs. Picture of using puppets to train crabs

That is a terrifying puppet. Like wtf is it supposed to be?

A Very Normal Sea Creature Nothing To See Here

(squid?)

normal... is uh. relative, heh.

I mean... have you seen what comes up out of the sea? freaking aliens, man.

Terrifying for a crab... Wait... are you a crab?!? :O

Octopus, if I had to guess

apparently, yes. and... basically everything else. apparently. and also cuddle fish and squid.

*Cuttlefish. They may look cuddly, but most are not.

I'm kinda surprised to see them training them one at a time. That's going to take ages. "OK, Roger has been successfully intimidated by the nightmare puppet. Looks like Brenda is next in line, someone bring in Brenda."

Pretty sure crabs brains are so simple that they are almost purely instinctual. You shouldn't need to train them. But I can hurt, I guess.

Marine biologist’s friend: How’s work been lately?

Biologist: Great! This month I’ve been putting on puppet shows for crabs!

Friend: Is that a euphemism or …?

1 more...

These are native crabs right? Surely they wouldn't introduce a potentially invasive species. Right?

Making crabs even more appealing is that they’re native to Florida, just in relatively low numbers. (“Everything eats them,” Spadaro said.) Adding them to the reef is unlikely to have any grave unintended consequences for the ecosystem, Spadaro said, especially considering that there are few other herbivores.

Yeah

According to the article, the crabs will help the coral by eating algae. Unfortunately, algae is great for (and sorely needed for) removing carbon dioxide from the air.

https://fortune.com/2022/07/05/brilliant-planet-startup-marine-algae-carbon-capture-climate-change/

Crabs eating to save the environment isn't gonna destroy the environment

Biodiversity is more important.

Also you're talking about microalgae, the stuff that makes water look green. The stuff the crabs would be eating is growing on the coral or is shading it like kelp.

Hopefully you are right! I just found it humorous that on one side of the world they’re growing algae to save the planet, and on the other side they are getting rid of algae to save the planet. 🤷‍♂️

How about letting them loose in the state legislatures?

Or copy Roosevelt’s idea and use badgers.

what was that?!

Teddy Roosevelt was on one of his speech tours when a girl offered him a badger. He said yes, named it Josiah, and would often sic it on congresspeople who were running late or being otherwise annoying.

In unrelated news, FL conservatives pass law banning crabs due to "water wokeness".