One hermit crab complains to another about perpetually hearing the ocean.
Have you ever been to the beach and picked up a shell to see if you could hear the sound of the ocean? If so, hopefully it was one without a hermit crab inside it or you may have had a makeshift ear accessory.
When I was younger, it seemed like it was extraordinary to find a large seashell that you could hold up to your ear and be able to hear the ocean. Back then, it felt a bit like finding a four leaf clover but in reality it’s more like finding Jack in a Jack in the box.
Any I picked up and listened to were quite loud, so I began to wonder how any shell residents would cope with the non-stop white noise.
If it were me, I would be looking for a new shell featuring silence as one of the major selling points. I can understand hermit crabs wanting to forego the traditional seashell for some discarded rubbish like a partial Coke bottle neck with cap.
It’s said that white noise is meant to be relaxing and can assist with falling asleep, but if you knew there was no volume control or off switch for it, I don’t think sleep would come so easily. It would be akin to having tinnitus but with less ringing and more static.
I haven’t researched hermit crabs and have never seen one with ears, so I don’t know about their hearing abilities. It’s possible they have poor hearing or maybe they come with a built-in white noise filter.
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