The following is a heavy crop of a Herring Gull at sunset, with what I believe to be a Green Crab (gravid), an invasive from the Northeast Atlantic (Western Europe).
And the link below, discusses the damage the Green Crab has done to the clamming fishery in Maine waters. One point that is made is that the Green Crab has no predators in the western side of the North Atlantic. But it does.
In at least one recent winter, the waterbirds in this estuary subsisted almost exclusively on Green Crabs. I have many images of this relationship between the Green Crab and the waterbirds. I do not believe predation can extirpate the Green Crab from the western side of the North Atlantic. But there is a reason I have not yet (a few outings this month) seen crabs brought to the surface by the wintering loons. It has been all eels so far.
The following is a heavy crop of a Herring Gull at sunset, with what I believe to be a Green Crab (gravid), an invasive from the Northeast Atlantic (Western Europe).
And the link below, discusses the damage the Green Crab has done to the clamming fishery in Maine waters. One point that is made is that the Green Crab has no predators in the western side of the North Atlantic. But it does.
In at least one recent winter, the waterbirds in this estuary subsisted almost exclusively on Green Crabs. I have many images of this relationship between the Green Crab and the waterbirds. I do not believe predation can extirpate the Green Crab from the western side of the North Atlantic. But there is a reason I have not yet seen crabs brought to the surface by the wintering loons. It has been all eels so far.
The following image is a heavy crop of a Herring Gull at sunset, with what I believe to be a gravid Green Crab, an invasive from the Northeast Atlantic (Western Europe).
The following link discusses the damage the Green Crab has done to the clamming fishery in Maine waters. One point that is made is that the Green Crab has no predators in the western side of the North Atlantic. But it does.
In at least one recent winter, the waterbirds in this estuary subsisted almost exclusively on Green Crabs. I have many images of this relationship between the Green Crab and the waterbirds. I do not believe predation can extirpate the Green Crab from the western side of the North Atlantic. But there is a reason why I have not yet seen crabs brought to the surface by the wintering loons. It has been all eels so far.
The following image is a heavy crop of a Herring Gull at sunset, with what I believe to be a gravid Green Crab an invasive from the Northeast Atlantic (Western Europe).
The following link discusses the damage the Green Crab has done to the clamming fishery in Maine waters. One point that is made is that the Green Crab has no predators in the western side of the North Atlantic. It does though. In one recent winter, the waterbirds in this estuary subsisted almost exclusively on Green Crabs. I have many images of this relationship between the Green Crab and the waterbirds.
January 31, 2022. on a Gulf of Maine estuary, at sunset, a heavy crop of a Herring Gull with what I believe to be a Green Crab (an invasive from the Northeast Atlantic (Western Europe).
The following link discusses the damage the Green Crab has done to the clamming fishery in Maine waters. One point that is made is that the Green Crab has no predators in the western side of the North Atlantic. It does though. In one recent winter, the waterbirds in this estuary subsisted almost exclusively on Green Crabs. I will post images from a few of those years.
