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In 1979, the environmental problems of Lake Utah in the United States were very serious, with a large amount of algae floating on the surface of the water, and the smell was very pungent, which caused tourists to be reluctant to come for sightseeing, and the business of the hotel was also very bleak, which was a headache.
So the U.S. environmental department decided to introduce a fish that can eat algae to remove algae from the surface of the lake and restore the lake's original clarity.
As a result, the United States introduced a fish called Asian carp, hoping to improve the lake environment through their ability to "eat algae".
But the introduction of alien species to solve environmental problems often has an unintended consequence, in the case of the Asian carp proliferation.
The case of lakes in the United States is just one extreme example, and in fact there are countless cases of environmental problems caused by the act of human introduction of alien species on a global scale.
There are even cases where there are cases where alien species are overflowing, and the damage to the ecosystem can be irreversible.
So just how scary are these alien species?
Today, we are going to talk about the alien species that has recently been discovered in Antarctica, which was once like an "emperor" in Europe, and was sold to the Antarctic continent, how terrible it is.
1. A kind of abandoned "pet".
In February 2019, when the Russian Antarctic expedition was surveying the Antarctic continent, it found an extremely large crab creature in this cold land.
They sent the crab creature to a research institute in the city for identification, only to find a surprising "king crab".
King crabs usually live in the cold waters of the Northern Hemisphere and have never lived near the Antarctic continent, so researchers initially thought they might have moved the juveniles of the largest crab to the Antarctic continent for breeding.
But then they found that this king crab was not only huge in number, but also completely larger than the size of the juvenile king crab in the northern hemisphere.
As a result, researchers believe that the king crab may be a "pet" abandoned by humans in the northern hemisphere, and eventually carried to the Antarctic continent by glaciers and ocean currents.
King crabs are very large and defensive, and they have a thick and sturdy exoskeleton on their bodies, making them less susceptible to predation by other marine animals.
Moreover, the size and number of king crabs are very large, so once they breed in an area, it will have an extremely serious impact on the biodiversity and ecology of that area.
Therefore, glaciers and ocean currents brought king crabs to the Antarctic continent, causing great harm to the ecology of the sea near the Antarctic continent, so researchers decided to control the king crab to avoid causing greater harm to the sea around the Antarctic continent after the king crab breeding.
Second, the Soviet Union introduced, but became an "emperor".
King crab was first introduced to the Soviet Union in the 30s of the 20th century, when the Soviet Union fished a batch of king crabs from the Bering waters of the Arctic Ocean and released them into the waters of the Baltic Sea.
King crab appeared in the Baltic Sea at the end of the 30s of the 20th century, when World War II broke out and some areas of the Soviet Union were invaded and occupied by the German army, so the Soviet Union had to transfer and relocate resources in some places.
Due to the fact that some areas of the Soviet Union lost a lot of resources due to the war, the Soviet Union decided to release a batch of king crabs from the Arctic Ocean into the waters of the Baltic Sea, so as to provide some resources for the fishing industry in the Baltic Sea.
After the king crab was released into the Baltic Sea, because the ecological environment of the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean is relatively similar, the king crab quickly adapted to the living environment of the Baltic Sea, and then began to breed in the Baltic Sea.
In the beginning, the Soviet Union put king crabs into the Baltic Sea with the intention of allowing them to eat some other marine creatures and thus protect the local ecology.
But the reproduction rate of king crabs is so fast that the number of king crabs in the Baltic Sea has been rising, and eventually flooding, causing a serious impact on the ecological environment of the Baltic Sea.
From 1939 to 1942, in less than four years, the king crab multiplied its population nearly 100-fold, soaring from a few thousand to more than a hundred thousand, and eventually, the number of king crabs even exceeded the number of other local marine life.
After the flood of such a huge number of king crabs, they began to cause very serious damage to the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, and even posed a threat to other local marine life.
Moreover, these king crabs also burrow at the bottom of the ocean, which leads to the death of organisms on the bottom of the ocean, and eventually, the sea environment in the Baltic Sea becomes extremely harsh, and even other marine life is often eaten by king crabs.
After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union controlled the number of king crabs in the Baltic Sea and eventually established an independent king crab fishing industry, hoping to reduce the impact of king crabs on the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea through the fishing of king crabs.
But in the 1960s, after years of control of king crab catches in the Soviet Union, it found that the king crab population began to climb again.
Beginning in 1960, the population of king crabs began to increase dramatically and began to flood, but the Soviet Union did not control the population, and eventually, king crabs flooded all the way to the waters of Northern Europe.
In 1980, the population of king crabs gradually climbed to the sky, and eventually, their numbers soared from hundreds of thousands to nearly 30 million, and the king crabs flooded the waters of northern Europe.
3. Biological invasions.
When king crabs flooded the waters of Northern Europe, they began to have an impact on the ecosystems of the seas of Northern Europe, and eventually, they had an even greater impact on the ecosystems of the seas of Northern Europe than on the seas of the Baltic Sea.
King crabs mainly feed on seaweed, and the waters of Northern Europe are one of the richest seaweed species in the world, so in the process of flooding, king crabs quickly adapted to the living environment of Nordic seas, and then began to reproduce in large quantities.
In 1980, the population soared to 30 million, and in that year, many Nordic fishermen had to switch careers to king crab fishing to make ends meet.
It is very difficult to catch king crab because it will attack the fisher during the fishing process, which will cause injury to the fisher, and the number of king crab is very large, so the life of the fisher is very dangerous.
Therefore, in order to protect the lives of fishermen, some countries in Northern Europe have to limit the catch of king crabs, so as to gradually control the number of king crabs, and the number of king crabs has gradually declined.
Fourth, the reason for the high price.
The initial price of king crab was not very expensive, selling for only a few dollars per catty, which was very cheap, but as the number of king crabs was controlled, the price of king crabs was pushed up.
Moreover, the catch of king crabs is now very small, so their prices are very expensive, and the price of an adult king crab has now been pushed to hundreds of dollars, or even nearly a thousand dollars, so the price of king crabs is very expensive now.
In addition, the reason why the price of king crab is very expensive is that the population of king crab is very small, so they are very delicious, so they are regarded as a delicacy by many people, so the price of king crab has been pushed up.
5. The harm of king crab.
The flood of king crabs is not only in the Baltic Sea and northern Europe, but also in the Arctic waters of the United States, causing a serious impact on the marine ecosystem of the Arctic in the United States.
The United States is one of the countries with the strongest awareness of marine protection in the world, but the ecological situation in the Arctic waters of the United States is very poor, and one of the important reasons is that there are too many king crabs.
The ice in the Arctic of the United States is very cold, and king crabs are not adapted to this cold environment at first, but then they quickly adapt to this cold living environment and then begin to breed in the waters of the Arctic in the United States.
After the king crab bred in the Arctic waters of the United States, it began to have a serious impact on the ecosystems of the Arctic seas of the United States, and eventually the impact on the ecosystems of the Arctic seas of the United States was even greater than that of the seas of Northern Europe.
The ecological environment in the Arctic waters of the United States has become very bad, and even the overflow of king crabs will have an impact on other creatures in the Arctic waters of the United States, and eventually, the United States has to control the population of king crabs, so as to reduce the impact of king crabs on the ecosystem of the Arctic waters of the United States.
Sixth, the balance of ecosystems is fragile.
King crabs are a very harmful alien species, and they have caused a serious impact on local biodiversity and ecological environments after they have spread in the waters of Northern Europe and the Arctic of the United States.
At first, king crabs lived only in the waters of the Arctic Ocean of the USSR, but after the USSR released them into the waters of the Baltic Sea, they began to flood.
The balance of the ecosystem is very fragile, and once damaged, it is difficult to repair, and in the process of flooding, the king crab has had a serious impact on the ecological environment of the seas of northern Europe.
When human beings introduce alien species to solve environmental problems, they need to be very cautious and cautious to avoid irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
King crab is a serious alien species in Europe, but it is a very popular edible crab in the waters of the United States, and in the eastern part of the United States, people often eat king crab, so the price of king crab has been pushed up to thousands of dollars each.
In 2016, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to limit the catch of king crabs to reduce the impact of king crabs on ecosystems in the U.S. Arctic, but the population of king crabs has not been controlled.
As a result, the price of king crab has skyrocketed, and now the price of each adult king crab has surpassed