Yeti Crabs
K. hirsuta, the yeti crab, lives in dense, clustered colonies along the ocean floor. they crowd around hydrothermal vents which spew toxic gas and create improbable conditions for life. their nickname is inspired by the long silky hair covering their arms, that which also provides a surface for chemosynthetic bacteria to cling onto and reproduce. in the absence of sunlight, the bacteria relies on energy from chemical reactions produced by hydrothermal vent activity to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds capable of supporting life. like little alien farmers, yeti crabs feed on this bacteria to survive.
it’s a stunning display of mutualism and just one piece of an unexpected foreign ecosystem. such complex life existing independently without sunlight was once thought impossible whilst these creatures thrived, untouched and unknown to humankind.
i’ve been thinking a lot about yeti crabs lately and how we consider their environment to be incredibly hostile — to us, it’s a death sentence; to them, it’s home. what would the yeti crab be without the noxious expulsions of their deep sea vents? i feel a curious kinship to them despite our biologies, unrelated to our common luscious locks. who would i be without the noxious trauma of my past?
i too feast on the small pieces of relived, redefined experiences i cultivate with wolves, and wolves are fattened by my bunny desire to commune with them, to share, to create new memories. it’s mutualism all the same; we’re both here because we need this to survive.
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