20D, 20-35, fill flash, 1/60 @ f8, Handheld (so was the crab)
Hi,
Our site has not been updated for the WPOY winners yet (8.30am) should be soon.
Here is a quick snap of one of the several hundred Mitten Crabs from yesterdays trip.... These crabs get their name from the 'furry' mitten on their Chelipeds, which only really becomes visible when immersed, on images out of water it tends to look like a muddy coating...
This is a male... these crabs are an introduced species that may be changing the ecology of our rivers as they breed prolifically and affect food sources, they also have a nasty habit of boring into the river banks which become honeycombed and subject to faster errosion. One of the purposes behind our research is to establish whether they are edible, if so the Chinese population consider them a great delicacy and the harvesting of them will keep the population within check.
Not a fantastic shot, the boat is small, so not a lot of room and rocks quite violently particularly as we are near to the shipping lanes , apologies for the garish garb of the scientist holding the crab, any image we produce in the field these days has to comply with H & S laws so correct clothing and protection is the order of the day...
As these crabs are spreading ( there have been reports that they are becoming established in the Humber) the museum would appreciate any reported sightings and documentary evidence. Cheers.
Thanks for filling in the story Phil . Your colleague helps set the scene nicely and the red and yellow go together very nicely .
Posted by David Kjaer on October 19, 2006 at 6:42 AM
Hi Phil
Interesting post - thanks for sharing!
David
Posted by John Chapman on October 19, 2006 at 10:20 AM
Hi Phil
interesting post with a bright BG.
John
Aberdeen
Posted by Barrie Harwood on October 19, 2006 at 12:46 PM
When two of these fall in love... do they become Smitten Crabs?
Sorry guys
Posted by szekiat chan on October 19, 2006 at 1:11 PM
yummy....i;m heating up my wok already....
Posted by Nigel Blake on October 19, 2006 at 2:05 PM
Very interesting information on this crab Phil, and a good shot of it too, I did'nt realise they were getting to high numbers in our rivers...and Barrie, surely you mean 'fall in GLOVE'
Discussion
7 repliesHi,
Our site has not been updated for the WPOY winners yet (8.30am) should be soon.
Here is a quick snap of one of the several hundred Mitten Crabs from yesterdays trip.... These crabs get their name from the 'furry' mitten on their Chelipeds, which only really becomes visible when immersed, on images out of water it tends to look like a muddy coating...
This is a male... these crabs are an introduced species that may be changing the ecology of our rivers as they breed prolifically and affect food sources, they also have a nasty habit of boring into the river banks which become honeycombed and subject to faster errosion. One of the purposes behind our research is to establish whether they are edible, if so the Chinese population consider them a great delicacy and the harvesting of them will keep the population within check.
Not a fantastic shot, the boat is small, so not a lot of room and rocks quite violently particularly as we are near to the shipping lanes
As these crabs are spreading ( there have been reports that they are becoming established in the Humber) the museum would appreciate any reported sightings and documentary evidence. Cheers.
Phil
Interesting post - thanks for sharing!
David
interesting post with a bright BG.
John
Aberdeen
Sorry guys
Found your write up very interesting.Thanks for sharing it.
A fine shot too.