Florida to release crab army to help save coral reefs

[InvaderJim]

Came across this pretty cool article about scientists creating a crab army to eat the algae in hopes it will help save the dying coral reefs in Florida.

https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/2...a-coral-reef-caribbean-king-crabs-restoration

 

[areefer01]

Maybe that will work better than the Osborne Reef experiment they tried...

 

[rhitee93]

hmm, a giant CUC for the ocean...

I hope this helps, but I can't help but wonder what the unintended consequences of this will be.

 

[The_Paradox]

hmm, a giant CUC for the ocean...

I hope this helps, but I can't help but wonder what the unintended consequences of this will be.

Who cares. We can always release bigger crabs to eat these crabs. I don’t see anyway standing up an army for a proxy war could ever end badly.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Same as 'lionfish' experiment, that deffinetlly did not work.
Who hires these people, clueless idiots.

 

[MnFish1]

Who cares. We can always release bigger crabs to eat these crabs. I don’t see anyway standing up an army for a proxy war could ever end badly.

This seems like a stupid idea. If the cause of the coral issues in FL are/is global warming - how will crabs eating algae (assuming they do) help? In reality - the problem there more likely relates to pollution - which will probably kill the crabs - and continue to kill the corals

 

[exnisstech]

Hmm I thought algae only grows on dead coral. Are they going to spring back to like once the algae is eaten
I can't help but wonder who is going to foot the bill for this.

 

[Sleepingtiger]

hmm, a giant CUC for the ocean...

I hope this helps, but I can't help but wonder what the unintended consequences of this will be.

they are local to Florida. With the suggestion of releasing hundreds of thousands, I can only see tasty crab boils!

 

[SPS2020]

they are local to Florida. With the suggestion of releasing hundreds of thousands, I can only see tasty crab boils!

Hey Grandpa, what's for supper?!

 

[rhitee93]

Maybe the lionfish will learn to eat them

 

[RedoubtReef]

time to get into the crabpot selling business down there in FL...

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Do they taste good w drawn butter?

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Maybe the lionfish will learn to eat them

Eat the lion fish. They yum.

 

[The_Paradox]

This seems like a stupid idea. If the cause of the coral issues in FL are/is global warming - how will crabs eating algae (assuming they do) help? In reality - the problem there more likely relates to pollution - which will probably kill the crabs - and continue to kill the corals

Shade duh. The original play was millions of jellyfish but they were previously engaged.

 

[areefer01]

hmm, a giant CUC for the ocean...

I hope this helps, but I can't help but wonder what the unintended consequences of this will be.

This is a very good reply and why I mentioned the artificial tire reef. As a scuba diver when I see a healthy reef I see more than crabs. I see herbivores. Dead reefs or barren reefs I do not see them.

Regardless it is good they are looking at it but not sure it is as simple as adding a metric ton of crabs...

 

[Reefer Matt]

The reason the reefs aren't doing so great is from the absence of long spined urchins. Specifically Diadema antillarum. There was a disease in the 1980's that decimated the population.

For further research, lookup Martin A Moe Jr. and Diadema antillarum.

Martin Moe Diadema urchin spawning work documented in video | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

If you want to understand why the coral reefs of the Caribbean went from wonderful to wasteland, a lot of the ecological change seems to hinge on a plague that nearly wiped out Diadema sea urchins in…

reefbuilders.com

 

[Fish con carne]

This seems like a stupid idea. If the cause of the coral issues in FL are/is global warming - how will crabs eating algae (assuming they do) help? In reality - the problem there more likely relates to pollution - which will probably kill the crabs - and continue to kill the corals

global warming - lol! I guess its an IQ thing. Dredging, 1000's of boats, anchors, rode's, divers, trash, direct contact every weekend for decades has nothing to do with it? Freshwater runoff diverted killing grass beds, invasive species and on and on. Starfish and lionfish are wreaking havoc in the Bahamas. The US taxpayers are paying 12.00US / starfish caught by locals. Those big gold suckers. But you keep clinging to global warming. Hey how's that buoy temp data going? You know, the 2 climatologists (lol) who claimed their data was from ocean buoys. But the data string was NMEA and showed gps movement down the east coast (temps from ships main engine cooling intakes). Didn't those 2 "scientists" get fired from UC Berkely for fraud ? (yes). Post 1 data set, just 1, that is not obviously fraudulent, and I'll be nicer. I live on miami beach, which according to you and the other frauds is supposed to be under water along with half of Fla.

 

[MnFish1]

global warming - lol! I guess its an IQ thing. Dredging, 1000's of boats, anchors, rode's, divers, trash, direct contact every weekend for decades has nothing to do with it? Freshwater runoff diverted killing grass beds, invasive species and on and on. Starfish and lionfish are wreaking havoc in the Bahamas. The US taxpayers are paying 12.00US / starfish caught by locals. Those big gold suckers. But you keep clinging to global warming. Hey how's that buoy temp data going? You know, the 2 climatologists (lol) who claimed their data was from ocean buoys. But the data string was NMEA and showed gps movement down the east coast (temps from ships main engine cooling intakes). Didn't those 2 "scientists" get fired from UC Berkely for fraud ? (yes). Post 1 data set, just 1, that is not obviously fraudulent, and I'll be nicer. I live on miami beach, which according to you and the other frauds is supposed to be under water along with half of Fla.

My point was tongue in cheek. What I meant was IF the issues with coral and the ocean are due to climate change (as many seem to suggest - including the very government agencies that are releasing an army of crabs) - how is releasing crabs going to help? With that said - I think your language is a little harsh since - nothing I said was fraudulent - nor do I consider myself 'a fraud'

I re-read my post, below - and actually I'm not sure why you quoted it at all?
MnFish1 said:
This seems like a stupid idea. If the cause of the coral issues in FL are/is global warming - how will crabs eating algae (assuming they do) help? In reality - the problem there more likely relates to pollution - which will probably kill the crabs - and continue to kill the corals

 

[Fish con carne]

This is a very good reply and why I mentioned the artificial tire reef. As a scuba diver when I see a healthy reef I see more than crabs. I see herbivores. Dead reefs or barren reefs I do not see them.

Regardless it is good they are looking at it but not sure it is as simple as adding a metric ton of crabs...

I remember the tires being dropped in. Of course, nothing would grow on or around them. HUGE failure. I planted grass beds, by hand in Biscayne bay for 2 summers. Loved it. It helped but the biggie issue, water flow and tooooo many dang boats and people doing TONS of damage everyday.

 

[Fish con carne]

My point was tongue in cheek. What I meant was IF the issues with coral and the ocean are due to climate change (as many seem to suggest - including the very government agencies that are releasing an army of crabs) - how is releasing crabs going to help? With that said - I think your language is a little harsh since - nothing I said was fraudulent - nor do I consider myself 'a fraud'

anyone who utters the term "global warming" is a fraud. There is not 1 single shred of evidence that can stand the light of even basic scrutiny. That being said, I thought you were serious, my bad. Harsh? Yeah, thin skin is not a trait that will serve you well in public forums. That being said, sorry about that.