hermit crabs | Martin Bailey Photography

Trading Plastic for Shells with Shawn Miller (Podcast 753)

by Martin Bailey | Sep 20, 2021 | Conservation, Interview, Podcast

I was recently contacted by my friend Shawn Miller down in Okinawa to ask me for a phrase to engrave on a shell that would be placed on the beach for a hermit crab to use as a home. I was very happy to participate and it led me to look deeper into Shawn’s wonderful project, and we decided to talk about it for the podcast so that we could share what Shawn is up to with you too. During the conversation, I was impressed to hear how Shawn had used his photography to help conservation and to find that he’s done a Ted Talk on the topic as well, which you can find below. Please listen to the audio to find out what we talked about and learn more about Shawn and his project.

Shawn’s Bio

Wildlife photographer and naturalist Shawn Miller specializes in capturing the flora and fauna of Okinawa, Japan. Equally, at home on land and underwater, Shawn has documented rare and endemic species from birds and reptiles to nudibranchs and shells. Shawn specializes in creating motion in still photographs, fluorescence photography, environmental awareness, and the protection of endangered species.

Shawn is a long-term resident of Okinawa, whose purpose of achievement drives him to get that once-in-a-lifetime photograph of never before seen animal behavior.

His work has been featured in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, National Geographic, World Wildlife Fund, and Blue Planet ll. He is best known for his powerful project “Crabs with Beach Trash Homes”.

The species Sinezona milleri, Hemilienardia shawnmilleri, and Calliostoma shawni, are all named after the wildlife photographer and naturalist Shawn Miller for his continued support in malacological research.

Links

Shawn website – Okinawa Nature Photography

Shawn Miller Hermit crab related Instagram account Shawn Miller(@maketheswitch4nature)

Support Shawn’s efforts in crab conservation @ Patreon Make The Switch 4 Nature is creating Hermit Crab Conservation and Coastal Forest Protection | Patreon

Here are the images that we briefly talk about, but so strongly help to illustrate this conversation, and end with a photo of the crab that used my shell, engraved with the words “No More Plastic Caps”.