King crab invasion of Antarctic waters is ‘quite frightening’

[Barrett808]

Warming waters along the Antarctic peninsula have opened the door to shell-crushing king crabs that threaten a unique ecosystem on the seafloor, according to new research by a U.S.-Sweden team of marine researchers.

On a two-month voyage of the Swedish icebreaker Oden and U.S. research vessel Nathaniel B. Palmer, marine biologists collected digital images of hundreds of crabs moving closer to the shallow coastal waters that have been protected from predators with pincers for more than 40 million years. They are the same kind of deep-water crabs with big red claws that you might find at the seafood counter.

"Along the western Antarctica peninsula we have found large populations over like 30 miles of transects. It was quite impressive," said Sven Thatje, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Southampton in England and chief scientist on the cruise.

Finding crabs on the bottom of the ocean isn't that big a deal. But here in Antarctica, crabs haven't lived in coastal waters for the past 40 million years. Until now, it's been too cold. ...

King crab invasion of Antarctic waters is ‘quite frightening’

[HereSince1628]

1. Not to mangle TV series' names, but is it time for the deadliest ice cold catch?

What a thought.

[slackmaster]

2. We're all going to have to pitch in to avoid this incipient disaster

[HereSince1628]

4. I wish I knew how to do that...

Everytime I try to crack crab legs and pull out a nice clean piece of muscle, I make a shredded mess.

Maybe with a couple hundred thousand tries I could get better at it.

[patrice]

7. It's the size of the leg. > .5 inch = more meat, so I don't know how you could fail, unless someone

is selling your really low-quality legs.

[Tesha]

15. Buy a hefty pair of kitchen shears.

Cut completely through the shell along the
entire length of the leg/claw arm.

If the shell is still too strong to "hinge open",
repeat along the opposite side of the leg.

Lift meat out intact; remove the tendon as
necessary.

No fuss, no bother, not much mess!

And one fewer of those nasty King Crabs to
bully the little critters!

Good kitchen shears are very useful for many
purposes and almost indispensible for this one!

Tesha

[patrice]

22. They ought to be served with gloves too, for folks like me. Those spines!!! Some

disposable light cotton canvas gloves, or something like that, would help you go after even the smaller pieces without risking your hands.

[Hoopla Phil]

20. Several factors involved that all have to be right.

Size - as mentioned already.

Previously frozen. Must be fresh.

Time from harvest. Really, it must be fresh.

Cook time. Many restaurants over cook the legs.

[HereSince1628]

34. Fresh could be the biggest problem...Wisconsin doesn't have

much of a king crab fishery. They might be flown in fresh for upscale eateries, but I sort of think most of it is frozen to reach here at something approaching an attractive retail price.

[The Doctor.]

26. King Crab is very easy.

Blue, Dungeness, Snow, they're all more difficult.

[patrice]

5. Sign me up!!

[Myrina]

6. Something about that just looks wrong ..

"mmmmm, here honey, eat some animal joint & muscle tissue. And we have chicken over there, eat some skin and organs while you're at it."

:puke: :puke:

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[slackmaster]

23. A crab eating a crab would be wrong

A human eating a crab is just par for the course.

[The Doctor.]

27. Well, we are omnivores.

The sensitivity is understood, however.

[Control-Z]

33. Can you tell me

how you're treating the members on this board any differently than forced-birthers when they bully and intimidate women seeking abortions with graphic images and offensive remarks?

People have the right to eat whatever they like and even talk about it with great pleasure. I'm sure no one stopped eating crab today because of your comment but it was disruptive to what was otherwise an unusually happy discussion (considering the tragic circumstance that prompted it).

[Hoopla Phil]

19. Damn that looks GOOD!!! But

the price is going to have to go down considerable before "I'm there".

[SPedigrees]

24. My thoughts exactly!

Any chance that lobsters too will be migrating into polar water along with the crabs?

[callous taoboy]

3. I, for one, welcome our new king crab overlords.

[patrice]

9. Another Lovecraft -ian Dagonite, here? nt

[RKP5637]

11. Crabs will rule! n/t

[Tesha]

29. "First it was bed bugs. Now it's an invasion of crabs!"

"What's next? Republicans running loose in the streets
with lice? I ask: where will it all end?"



"pssst pssst pssstttt"

"Oh! The kind you EAT! That's different!"

"Nevermind..."

[RKP5637]

30. LOL!!! n/t

[xchrom]

10. would someone please pass the butter and lemon wedges? nt

[RKP5637]

13. Now I'm hungry! n/t

[xchrom]

14. me too!. nt

[AnneD]

16. That is how you trap them....

put some clarified butter and lemon wedges in your crab pots...Old Indian secret...:rofl:

I too welcome our new crab overlords. Things are dicy in the Gulf, despite what M$M tells you.

[pipoman]

17. Really? Is there anything more delicious?

[xchrom]

18. i like them better than lobster.

not that i'd pass up a lobster bisque or po boy.

[Hoopla Phil]

21. +1 n/t

[customerserviceguy]

31. I've described them as the reason that there is an ocean

I stand ready to enter the fight, drawn butter in one hand, tiny fork in the other!

[AndyTiedye]

25. Can the Japanese "Research" Fleet take Those and Leave the Whales Alone?

[slackmaster]

28. That's the best idea I've seen all day

A lot of Japanese are accustomed to eating their mock crab meat, which isn't bad but not nearly as delectable as the real thing.

[customerserviceguy]

32. I'm sure there are fleets of Chilean fishers willing to deal with this

And I will encourage their efforts at my local marketplace.