Sex change artists
of the Bay of Fundy
By Travis Webb

OTTAWA — Sexual reassignment surgery is not a procedure to be taken lightly.

Those who want a sex change have to jump hurdle after hurdle on the way to assuming their preferred gender identity. After all, it’s a big – not to mention irreversible – decision.

The mudshrimp of the Bay of Fundy aren't quite so lucky. As many as seven billion of these tiny creatures live in the bay, but nature has decided they aren't mature enough to make their own choices. Instead, the shrimp may be at the mercy of their own cosmetic surgeon’s gender whim.

It’s an injustice that Mark Forbes, a researcher at Carleton University, wants to understand.

Forbes is trying to identify the shrimp's surgeon as a microscopic parasite. He says the parasite may infect shrimp at birth and change genetic males into females.

Clearly, the parasite has been successful: For every male shrimp, there can be as many as 12 females.

And the damage doesn’t end with confused crustaceans. These sex-change artists could have the power to fundamentally alter the ecological landscape of the Bay of Fundy.

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