Christmas Island has been inundated with crabs as millions of red crustaceans make their annual migration, producing wild pics.
Christmas Island has been inundated with crabs as millions of red crustaceans make their annual migration from the land to the ocean for mating season.
An estimated 50 million crabs took tourists by surprise this week, with several incredible pictures of the creatures crawling over every visible surface flooding social media.
Parks Australia’s Tanya Detto says the migration is triggered by both the rainfall and a “certain tide that the crabs need to spawn by”.
“A month or two before the migration starts, we have to put up all these crab fences so there are some permanent ones that are there all year round,” Ms Detto told Sky News Australia.
Ms Detto said the migration is usually determined by the phase of the moon and two weeks before the date, they need to get to the coast and mate so they’re ready to incubate their eggs for the fortnight.
“So, they basically need it to rain in time for them to get down to the coast by that mating date.”
“It’s actually probably one of our busiest years for tourists, we have a lot of WA tourists coming over that wouldn’t normally make it just because they don’t have the ability to travel overseas so we’re sort of reaping the benefits of that.”
Acting manager of Christmas Island Bianca Priest said staff were prepared for the yearly event, constructing bridges and barriers to assist the crustaceans on their journey.
“Christmas Island National Park staff put up kilometres of temporary barriers, erect signs and close roads across the island to protect millions of crabs leaving their forest homes for the coast,” Ms Priest said.
“Over the years visitors have travelled from every corner of the world to witness this wildlife phenomenon.”
Amy Luetich, who has been living on Christmas Island for years, said her family was swarmed by dozens of crabs while camping.
“We have camped in that area a few times and we have never seen so many,” Mrs Luetich she told Daily Mail Australia.
“But as soon as we started cooking, they swarmed around us. My son counted 52 of them,” she recalled.
“His job was to pick them up and move them away from where we were eating. He was loving it.
“We kept our tents away from where we had eaten, but one of the families said the whole night they could feel one tapping on the outside of their tent.”
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