In one of the world’s most unusual pre-holiday events, millions of red crabs began their annual migration across Australia’s Christmas Island, heading to the sea to spawn, blocking traffic and generating visits and news coverage.
The Christmas Island red crabs are unique to the island and protected by law, as well as by traffic signs warning motorists to go no further. Apparently the crabs are no impediment to the more adventurous; according to the natural resource manager of Christmas Island National Park, “Some people were quite freaked out by the fact that they’re surrounded by millions of crawling arthropods, whereas other people are just immersed – basically do a little ‘red crab angel’, they’ll lie on ground and let themselves get covered in red crabs.”
After mating, male crabs make a return journey back to their home jungle; the females burrow into sand for around two weeks until its time to lay their eggs in the ocean. Each femaie can produce up to 100,000 eggs.
