Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

A Crab Survived Two Months at Sea in a Bottle That Should’ve Been Too Small. This Study Explains How.

The magnitude of plastic pollution is hard to grasp, unless you’re a crab trapped in a bottle.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

According to a new study published in Ecosphere, scientists off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, found a cute little fully-grown crab inside a floating plastic bottle. The crab seemingly swam inside the bottle when it was young, and grew until it couldn’t escape its little plastic prison.

It was a bit like a ship in a bottle: an impossibly big thing inside of an object with a small opening. The mouth measured just 24 millimeters across. The crab itself was more than 40 millimeters long and nearly 90 millimeters wide. The only explanation is........

© Vice