Angry Canadian crabs invade coast of Maine
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Angry Canadian crabs invade coast of Maine
By CHRISTIAN COTRONEO, Mother Nature Network, September 21 2018
A major threat to marine ecosystems, the green crab is so much more than an angry face. (Photo: davemhuntphotography/Shutterstock)
An army of raging Canadian crabs has stormed the shores of Maine and laid siege to local marine life.
Sound a bit dramatic?
You've never met a green crab.
This ultra-aggressive crustacean — dubbed the "cockroach of the sea " for its ability to thrive under extreme conditions — has a rap sheet as long as the Nova Scotia coastline they hail from.
Moving on from menacing the Canadian fishing industry, they're now raining hell on Maine's coastal ecosystem.
While their main target appears to be the region's soft-shell clam population, they're also munching through acres of eelgrass, a native flowering plant that shelters and nourishes life under the sea.
In fact, during a controlled study, researchers at the University of New England set green crabs loose on a meadow of eelgrass. The resulting carnage, they say, conjured images of Edward Scissorhands mowing through blades of grass.
"What we're seeing is this insane level of aggressiveness," Markus Frederich, a professor at the University of New England, told the the Associated Press .
While green crabs, an invasive species, have long established a beachhead in the United States, these Canadian counterparts seem to have serious anger issues.
Indeed, even scientists are rattled by the rage.
In an email sent to the Associated Press, University of New England researcher Louis Logan recalls the difficulties of trying to label the Canadian green crabs for the study. From five feet away, the animals were already waving their pincers at him.
"Any time I went down to grab one they went to grab me instead," he wrote, adding that one of the crabs even hurled itself from the water to get a hold of him.
No stranger to these raging crustaceans, the Newfoundland government has released an illustrated field guide entitled, 'The Green Crab Invasion.' (Photo: Newfoundland Fisheries and Land Resources)
So why are green crabs so angry?
After all, they're Canadian — a nation renowned for citizens who are polite, easygoing, intelligent, funny, handsome and, of course, humble .
Maybe it has something to do with their peculiar bloodline. Canadian green crabs are a hybrid, blending genes from their crustaceous cousins in the eastern U.S. and northern Europe. They're likely relatively newcomers to Canadian waters as well, with the first green grab discovered in 2007. With few natural enemies, their population has since skyrocketed. Hardly model citizens at home, green grabs have been blamed for pillaging Newfoundland's already precarious lobster and scallop industries.
"They were born ferocious," Cynthia McKenzie, a scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, told CBC News at the time .
Indeed, the green crab menace even prompted the Newfoundland government to release an illustrated guide to spotting — and reporting — them to authorities.
And that was more than a year ago. Since then, these muscular marauders have moved on to Nova Scotia, and now they have Maine in their pincer grip.
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Justin Trudeau sends Canada's secret weapon to invade the USA in response to Trump's bullying on NAFTA.
How do they react to steaming and boiling?
Probably the same as any crustacean. A more important question might be, if broiled or steamed and dipped in melted butter, how would they taste?
That's the only important question. Maybe Red Lobster could finally do an Endless Crab
Crab? Its what's for dinner...
Beware of the Canadian Green crabs, they could be booby-trapped.
With what? Hockey sticks?
They've been injected with a potion that will force you to say "eh" instead of "huh", and make you put the "u" back in your words (e.g. honour, neighbour, labour) and double the "L" in words (like "travelling" etc.) Those are words that get red-underlined when I type on my computer. LOL
I traveled thru Western Canada on my way back from Alaska in 1990. Great trip but I did pick up "eh" and kept saying that for about a year even while living in Texas
LOL. And you didn't even have to eat a green crab to get verbally infected.
How do they taste with drawn butter and Old Bay or Creole seasoning?
Aha!!! You beat me to the more important question. LOL
We could probably put an end to this problem with an $10.00 All you can eat crab dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and Red Lobster.
BUT FIRST!!!!!!
It is imperative to conduct palatability studies.
For the good and security of the nation and I hereby volunteer to be the primary test subject in such studies to determine the best ways to prepare this INVADER!!!
I'll take a dozen and will grill them and steam them. Just to be sure.
The Cajuns eat crawdads that live in swamps and roadside ditches so they'll love these things, especially when they learn that they don't have to trap 200 of them for a meal for 3 people.
Be careful. As I warned jbb above, they are a secret weapon and could be booby trapped. On the other hand they could contain a magic potion that when eaten will make you say "eh" instead of "huh" and start putting the "u" back in your words.
Good planning.
National security is of utmost importance here.
Well you know a "REAL MAN" must fulfill his patriotic duty.
CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE!!!!
Opps, wrong country...
Killer bees of the sea.
This is a national crisis. EVERYONE stoke up your steamers and boilers!!!!
We need a bigger steamer.
LOL. Good one. I appreciate movie quotes, even when not exact. Life imitates art.
As a kid i remember a '50s sci-fi of a huge radiation mutant crab that was causing havoc. Even as a kid all I could think about was how to steam it.
This must be the movie you remember:
In the picture I posted above, I had edited the colour to show the crab as green.
Yes, that is the movie.
I pretty much missed the movie while thinking about cooking the crab
My advice is to avoid the raw fermented crab if you're in Seoul.....it tastes great but the consequences can be disastrous.
LOL. Hmmmm? I wonder if that might have something to do with it?
The Chinese eat lobster raw as well - note the white shredded raw tail meat - the feelers were still moving around. Although I love lobster, I couldn't eat that one - just took this picture of it.
We have a new food source... and we're complaining??