OCEAN CITY — A decades-old Ocean City summer tradition is facing renewed criticism from the animal rights organization PETA, which is urging city officials to retire the annual Miss Crustacean Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant and Hermit Crab Races in favor of robot crabs and other animal-friendly activities.
In a letter sent this week to Mayor Jay Gillian, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk asked the city to replace the live-animal events with alternatives such as remote-controlled crab races, crab-walk relay races and a pageant celebrating coastal wildlife conservation. The organization even offered to provide robotic crabs for the races.
The annual event, scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 19, has been a staple of Ocean City's summer calendar for more than five decades, featuring a tongue-in-cheek beauty pageant for hermit crabs followed by races on the beach.
During an interview on WOND's The Lorry Young Show, Reilly Park, a spokesperson for PETA, said the organization believes the event promotes the commercial hermit crab trade and encourages the use of wild animals for entertainment.
"In nature, hermit crabs avoid humans, they live in groups of 100 or more and can live up to 40 years," Park said. "In the pet trade where these animals come from, they are ripped from their homes, confined to tiny enclosures, fed improper diets and die when they're only one to four years old."
Park said many people are unaware that hermit crabs commonly sold on boardwalks and in souvenir shops are typically taken from the wild because they do not breed successfully in captivity.
"Behind every single one that is sold, there is a story of suffering," she said.
According to PETA, hermit crabs require humid environments, room to forage and interaction with other crabs—conditions the organization says cannot be provided in the small plastic containers where they are often kept and sold.
"Hermit crabs are not toys, trinkets, props or pets," Newkirk wrote in the letter. "Respecting crabs begins with recognizing that they are individuals with their own interests, not forcing them into pageants and races for human amusement."
Park said Ocean City could preserve the fun of the event while eliminating the use of live animals.
"Ocean City doesn't need to exploit hermit crabs to make a splash," she said. "There are tons of ways to celebrate animals and create traditions that don't involve harming them."
Among PETA's suggestions are remote-controlled crab races, crab-walk relay races and other family-friendly activities that celebrate marine life without using live animals.
The organization is also encouraging Ocean City residents and visitors to contact city officials in support of replacing the annual event.
"We just want to urge Ocean City residents and visitors to leave hermit crabs in nature and instead support attractions that celebrate them without exploiting them," Park said.
The Miss Crustacean event has been held in Ocean City since 1973 and remains one of the resort's most recognizable summer traditions. The pageant features humorous contestants and concludes with the awarding of the whimsical Cucumber Rind Cup to the winning hermit crab.
As of Friday, Ocean City had not announced any plans to modify or cancel this year's event, and city officials had not publicly responded to PETA's request.
About the Author
Karen Johnson
With over 30 years of news experience in major markets like Los Angeles, Denver, and Columbus, Karen now covers our area for South Jersey NewsBeat. She also brings her articulate and conversational news delivery to WOND radio listeners every weekday. Her background includes work with the NBC Radio Network, and she thrives in fast-paced news environments.
