Scientists Finally Know Why 10 Billion Crabs Died in Alaska Over the Last Half Decade

Amaze Lab

Over the last few years there’s been a mass die-off of snow crabs in the Bering Sea just off the coast of Alaska. Researchers estimate that between just 2018 and 2021, some 10 billion of the crabs have disappeared meaning the species is in trouble.

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00:00 [Music]

00:04 Over the last few years, there's been a mass die-off of snow crabs in the Bering Sea,

00:08 just off the coast of Alaska. Researchers estimate that between just 2018 and 2021,

00:13 some 10 billion of the crabs have disappeared, meaning the species is in trouble. And now,

00:18 according to a new report by researchers with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric

00:23 Administration's Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, they might finally know why.

00:27 Researchers found that in 2018, snow crab populations were reaching historic highs,

00:32 leading to a $150 million crabbing industry in Alaska. However, after marine heat waves hit

00:37 their habitats, their numbers plummeted, killing billions of them, with the Alaskan crabbing

00:42 industry only taking in $24 million in 2022. These heat waves are becoming more common as

00:48 our planet gets warmer, and it prevents typical sea ice formation. That ice has an annual melt

00:53 cycle that sends frigid meltwater to the bottom of the sea, where the crabs call home. When the

00:57 sea ice never formed during a marine warming period back in 2018, it couldn't eventually melt

01:02 and create a cold summer habitat for the crabs, which the study has found increased the metabolisms

01:07 of the previously mentioned record number of crabs, leading to too many snow crabs and too

01:12 little food, ultimately resulting in a mass die-off.

01:16 [Music]

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