These desperate hermit crabs were seen using plastic bottle tops for shells after rivals took all the available homes. <br /><br />The creatures were spotted moving along the sand on the Ngai Island in Krabi province, southern Thailand last Saturday (September 21). <br /><br />Locals were shocked to see them using the bottle tops as their homes. <br /><br />The creatures normally clamber inside sea shells lying on the beach, but can mistake human trash for the natural items or resort to man-made alternatives when all the available shells have been snapped up by rival crabs. <br /><br />Footage shows how dozens of other crabs on the beach at the same time had managed to find suitable sea shells - leaving only human trash behind.<br /><br />The ecologist, who wished to remain anonymous, was disappointed to see the natural world evolving in a negative way.<br /><br />He said: "These little hermit crabs did not seem aware that their shells were not natural material. The plastic bottle tops are not as good for them as real shells.<br /><br />"It made me sad to see how plastics were mixing with the lives of the marine animals, particularly when so many living things have been killed by plastic pollution.''<br /><br />The hermit crab is a species that cannot produce their own shell which is why they have to find seashell on the beach.<br /><br />As hermit crabs grow, they require larger shells and often compete with other crabs on the beach for a suitable new shell.
