Pepsi imprint on lobster claw ‘shows extent of pollution’
A LOBSTER caught in Canada with a Pepsi logo imprinted on its claw is the dramatic embodiment of the harmful impact rubbish can have on the ocean, conservationists say.
The branded crustacean was trapped by a fishing crew off the Canadian island of Grand Manan, New Brunswick, on Nov 21.
Karissa Landstrand was loading lobsters into a crate when she spotted the instantly recognisable red and blue logo of the fizzy drink.
“I can’t say how he got it on,” Ms Lindstrand, who posted the image on Facebook, told CBC. “It seemed more like a tattoo or a drawing on the lobster rather than something growing into it.”
Ms Lindstrand, who has been fishing for lobsters for four years, told Canadian media: “They believe that maybe there was a can in the bottom of the ocean and when [the lobster] was growing, it grew around the can.”
There was also speculation that cardboard Pepsi packaging may have been stuck on its claw for years, she said.
“This tells me that there is a lot of garbage in the ocean, if that’s what’s happening to the lobsters we get out from the water,” she added.
Matthew Abbott, a marine programme coordinator at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, said it showed rubbish is “infiltrating even into the deep water”.
Rubbish “is really widespread, just about anywhere”, he said. “You can’t really name one hotspot because it is well too widespread for that.”
Plastic rubbish is particularly harmful, Mr Abbott said, because it breaks down into tiny pieces that stay in the ocean.
“The smaller something becomes, the more it looks like food to animals of various sizes. Once ingested, it can cause all sorts of problems.”
A recent Blue Planet II episode focused on how plastic is having a devastating effect on the ocean and slowly poisoning our sea creatures, leaving many viewers shocked.
Sea creatures in the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, were also found to have plastic in their stomachs, scientists recently discovered.