24. Dungeness Crabs - by Jo Birkmeyer

Dungeness Crabs - by Jo Birkmeyer

On our many trips to the Pacific Northwest with our then young children, among the shells and dead starfish and sea stars that were strewn on the beaches, they'd find crab carapaces with markings that looked like faces of Samurai warriors they had seen in books and movies.

I was aware of the myth surrounding "Samurai crabs" (Heikegani) which are native to Japan.

Dungeness Crabs with Markings

So I stretched the truth a bit and regaled them with this legend. 

Battle of Dan-no-ura

The story begins with the battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185 AD, a war in which two powerful Samurai clans: the ruling Taira clan (also known as Heike), and the challengers, Minamoto, fought over the Japanese imperial throne. 

On the 24th of April 1185 AD, two powerful Samurai clans fought to the death on the Dan-no-ura bay of Japan's Inland Sea. The ruling Taira clan (Heike) was led by their child Emperor, Antoku, and his grandmother, Taira no Tokiko.  The Heike had ruled Japan for many decades, but now, massively outnumbered, they faced defeat at the hands of the Minamoto. During the battle, Tokiko took the seven-year-old Emperor Antoku and leaped with him into the water drowning the child emperor, rather than allowing him to be captured by the opposing forces, and most members and generals of the Taira clan followed them in despair. Antoku came to be worshipped as Mizu-no-kami ("god of water").

This crucial battle was a cultural and political turning point in Japanese history: Minamoto Yoritomo became the first Shogun, or military ruler, of Japan. Dan-no-Ura marked the beginning of seven centuries, during which Japan was ruled by warriors and Shōguns instead of Emperors and aristocrats.

Carl Sagan hypothesized that " the crabs with shells resembling samurai were thrown back to the sea by fishermen out of respect for the Heike warriors, while those not resembling samurai were eaten, giving the former a greater chance of reproducing. Therefore, the more closely the crabs resembled a samurai face, the more likely they would be spared and thrown back.

This idea has met with some skepticism. These markings on the carapaces are not special to Dungeness Crabs. Similar patterns are found on the carapaces of other species and genera throughout the world, including numerous fossil crabs. 
(excerpted from - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani).

Far-fetched perhaps, but the kids were fascinated.  

So Karpal, do you recall if the dorsal side of those crabs you caught had 'Samurai' markings like the ones pictured above? 

Folks who live in the Pacific Northwest (Trevor, Ashley, Rookie, ...) - next time you go to the beach, look for the Samurai warrior and post a picture. 

Jo

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Dungeness Crabs - by Karpal

The image you see was taken from aboard "Tiger Alpha" some moons ago in the outer reaches of the Vancouver harbour. What I am holding are two male dungenesses. [That's a lot of ss!] Their carapace

is roughly 20 cms. The meat is to die for [drown in my case]. 

The range of the dungeness crabs is from California, all along the coast of British Columbia right up to Alaska. That's where other bad boys take over.  

Years ago they were called Spider Crabs due to their humongous size. Yep, nobody wanted to eat them, for as you know, we all grew up watching movies of giant spiders grabbing heroines and dragging them into their dark and murky recesses while the heroes angrily [understandably] yet vainly attempted to rescue their Saturday night dates. Until one heck of a smart publisher and marketing agent suggested that renaming them as King Crab would make them more desirable.

Overnight the crabbers became millionaires. Stands to reason that a fragile natural resource when subjected to intense industrial pressure the outcome is predictable. We in BC protect our natural resources in a balanced manner. The same cannot be said what is happening in Alaska. Give you a little hint. If after reading this should you suddenly have an inexplicably intense desire to gulp down a red King Crab in a restaurant, I seriously advise you to check your bank balance first.

Rats!!! I'm outta apricot brandy already, and the night's going to be long.

Karpal.