Just tell us what killed the crabs

Third years on, more questions than answers remain about the immense "mass crustacean mortality event" in Teesside - and what this could mean for the future.

By Jessica Taylor Price

It began with a bang. At least, that’s what Joe Redfern would tell you. Late in the evening of 19 September, 2021 in Teesside, a massive explosion felled the Dorman Long tower, a mid-century building that once stored coal in the town known for its chemical industry.

Five days later, locals spotted the Orca. The maintenance dredger …