Mass mortalities washing up on beaches, lobsters and crabs dying in pots, lobster and crab eggs dissolving. Fair to say it’s been a concerning year along the Northeast coast. TODAY universities release their research findings, a thread 🧵1/8
A recent report by NEIFCA highlighted the bleak state of crab populations, showing the scale of the decimation to their populations. White bars shows the average, the other two (if you can see them) are 2022 NEFICA own surveys and from industry data.🧵 2/8 
Pyridine was first identified as a potential cause in January 2022 after high presence in EA samples. Newcastle University have now conducted world first research analysing the toxicity of pyridine to crabs. The results are clear… pyridine is extremely toxic to crabs 🧵 3/8
In the lab pyridine was observed to cause an immediate response to edible crab. “showing indications of attacking the nervous system as evidenced by the twitching and convulsing behaviours.”. The symptoms mirrored exactly what was reported along the coastline and in pots 🧵 4/8
5.The University of York went on to sample sediment and water from the Tees Estuary to begin to identify a potential source of pyridine. 12 locations were sampled. Pyridine was identified at 8/12 sites sampled with varied concentration observed. 5/8
Newcastle University went on to model the dredging plume and disposal site. Using estimated figures based on pyridine concentrations they created this animation showing the potential for the dredger to spread pyridine across the entire impacted area (Hartlepool -> Whitby) 6/8
7.Furthermore, they then modelled the potential for accumulation in the crab tissue and calculated estimated population effects. The numbers don’t look good. Exposure at Redcar sufficient to kill approx. 50% of crab population in 24 hours 7/8
Hull University conducted analysis on the potential of a HAB being the cause. they concluded “The nature of the species in the bloom cannot be determined from satellite radiometry in coastal waters, and there appears to be no in situ data to confirm or reject the hypothesis” 8/8
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