Current:Home > ContactWatch as massive amount of crabs scamper across Australian island: 'It's quite weird' -CapitalTrack
Watch as massive amount of crabs scamper across Australian island: 'It's quite weird'
View
Date:2025-04-18 22:42:11
- The migration, one of the largest in recent years, is causing traffic delays and closures as crabs swarm roads and buildings.
- The crabs are migrating to the sea so females can release their eggs.
- After mating, female crabs can produce up to 100,000 eggs each.
Millions of red crabs are coming out of their burrows on Christmas Island in Australia to begin one of their largest migrations in years.
With the crabs now moving toward the sea, traffic delays and even road closures have resulted. Lin Gaff, a junior ranger program leader, told ABC News Australia the crabs are inescapable.
"They're across the island and going to all sides and nooks and crannies of it," Gaff said. "It is actually quite weird to have crustaceans running around in your school oval and running into your patio and across your living room floor."
The current migration is one of the biggest in recent years, according to a Parks Australia spokesperson's statement to ABC News. The spokesperson added that the crabs' migration was still in the early stages, with officials still trying to assess the number of crabs involved.
Watch: Mass amounts of bright red crabs migrate on Christmas Island
Video from Christmas Island National Park in Australia shows the bright red crabs along a road, dotting the landscape in red.
"It's shaping up to be a bumper year for the red crab migration!" the national park said in a Facebook post.
Gaff told ABC News Australia that last year's migration season was delayed by almost four months due to dry weather during the migration season.
Why do red crabs migrate?
Female crabs produce eggs three days after mating and stay in their burrows for weeks to let their eggs develop; each one of them can make up to 100,000 eggs, according to the Christmas Island National Parks website
Then, when the moon reaches its last quarter, the crabs leave their burrows and head to the shoreline where they wait for the high tide to turn before dawn. They are moved into the sea by the rising tide and release their eggs before returning to the forest, according to the park.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Stamford Road collision sends motorcyclist flying; driver arrested
- Louisville’s Super-Polluting Chemical Plant Emits Not One, But Two Potent Greenhouse Gases
- Stormi Webster Is All Grown Up as Kylie Jenner Celebrates Daughter’s Pre-Kindergarten Graduation
- Prince Harry Chokes Up on Witness Stand Amid Phone-Hacking Case
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Wednesday's Percy Hynes White Denies Baseless, Harmful Misconduct Accusations
- Clouds of Concern Linger as Wildfires Drag into Flu Season and Covid-19 Numbers Swell
- United CEO admits to taking private jet amid U.S. flight woes
- From family road trips to travel woes: Americans are navigating skyrocketing holiday costs
- PPP loans cost nearly double what Biden's student debt forgiveness would have. Here's how the programs compare.
Ranking
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Read full text of Supreme Court student loan forgiveness decision striking down Biden's debt cancellation plan
- Dismissing Trump’s EPA Science Advisors, Regan Says the Agency Will Return to a ‘Fair and Transparent Process’
- Bling Empire's Kelly Mi Li Honors Irreplaceable Treasure Anna Shay After Death
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- 22 Father's Day Gift Ideas for the TV & Movie-Obsessed Dad
- Chris Hemsworth Reacts to Scorsese and Tarantino's Super Depressing Criticism of Marvel Movies
- Vanderpump Rules' Raquel Leviss Turns on Tom Sandoval and Reveals Secret He Never Wanted Out
Recommendation
Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
Has the Ascend Nylon Plant in Florida Cut Its Greenhouse Gas Emissions, as Promised? A Customer Wants to Know
22 Father's Day Gift Ideas for the TV & Movie-Obsessed Dad
Ashley Tisdale Enters Her French Girl Era With New Curtain Bangs
Trump's 'stop
The Biggest Threat to Growing Marijuana in California Used to Be the Law. Now, it’s Climate Change
Rumer Willis Recalls Breaking Her Own Water While Giving Birth to Baby Girl
Ahead of the Climate Summit, Environmental Groups Urge Biden to Champion Methane Reductions as a Quick Warming Fix