Crustacean Crusade

Well we made it to Port Blair and are now doing the money chase again. I HATE India's ATM's. Our cards only work on 2 banks, neither of which are on this island. sigh.... we'll sort it though. Anyways, on to crabs...
Hermit Crabs
We have spent quite a bit of time observing the adorable little hermit crabs on beach 5 and 7 in Havelock. We spent a few hours collecting empty shells and lining them up where the crabs congregate. We even witnessed one switch from his shell to the new one (but he did switch back, a little roomy for his tastes). We then leave the empty shells and nearly all of them disapear within a short time (sheltered in areas away form tourists seeking shells). Quite fun!

The Crazy Crab Canadians
We made a bit of a reputation for ourselves on the island with the next adventure. It started one night when we were in the hut restaurant and these 2 crabs persistently escaped the bin they were held in 3 times! (They were to be dinner). Well we felt so bad we bought those 2, as they are locally caught, and released them into the ocean. I won't pretend it changed the world but it was a wonderful experience. I have always wanted to be able to release crabs but in landlocked Alberta it is not an option. We did the release quietly but word got around and people kept chatting with us about it over the coming days. Many travellers thought we were nuts and others shared stories of feeling bad for the crabs. But I did notice not one crab was purchased that night for dinner. The experience reminds me of one of my favorite touchstones (see below):

IT MATTERS TO THIS ONE - Anonymous
As I walked along the seashore, this young boy greeted me. He was tossing stranded starfish back to the deep blue sea. I said, "Tell me why you bother, why you waste your time this way. There's a million stranded starfish, does it matter anyway?"

And he said, "It matters to this one. It deserves a chance to grow. It matters to this one, I can't save them all I know. But it matters to this one, I'll return it to the sea. It matters to this one, and it matters to me."

I walked into the classroom, The teacher greeted me. She was helping Johnny study, he was struggling I could see. I said, "Tell me why you bother, why waste your time this way. Johnny's only one of millions, does it matter anyway?"

And she said, "It matters to this one, he deserves a chance to grow. It matters to this one, I can't save them all I know. But it matters to this one, I'll help him be what he can be. It matters to this one, and it matters to me."