Weeks ago, millions of crabs began their journey en masse toward the sea in a great migration. It's one of the world's great spectacles; something akin to seeing the aurora borealis in Sweden or the glowworms at Waitomo Caves in New Zealand. I've yet to see the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti, or the Taj Mahal under a full Moon, but I'd have to imagine they'd be up there as well. Yesterday I made the mistake of waking up too early...far too early. Today, It was timed right as Regine woke me at 5:15 AM saying "I'm gonna make sure you don't miss anything." Though she's lived here for more than 10 years, she's just as enthusiastic about the crabs as I am. From the verandah, I could see dozens of crabs crossing the road, so I washed up, made my coffee, grabbed my hat and camera, and was out the door.
As I walked down the road a bit, the Christmas Island (CI) of my imagination finally was to be: hundreds and hundreds of crabs all over the road, the walls, the beach, on the sides of trees...anywhere you can imagine.
So many crabs come out that you have to walk carefully to ensure you don't step on one. I've been told I timed this journey just right, and it appears I did. Crabs, crabs, and more crabs! After all these years I've finally found Sebastian...thousands of Sebastians, but now where is my Ariel? The title is inspired by a musical I watched as a kid called Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree. CI would be fitting with all the crabs but lacks the reggae and music culture that the Caribbean is famous for. Once the sun rises over the raised atoll, the crabs start to run for cover.
The crabs don't tolerate the heat easily. I'll talk a bit about the migration and how it works. It starts with the first rainfall of the wet season, and the timing is determined by the current lunar phase. The crabs spawn before dawn at a receding high-tide during the last quarter of the Moon. It's incredible that they manage to time it so well. If the rain arrives early, the crabs move slower toward the sea, but if it comes late they move faster. The male crabs arrive at sea first and then return to burrows near the sea, where they mate. A female crab then produces up to 100,000 eggs. At the last quarter of the Moon, the female crabs move toward the sea to drop their eggs. The eggs hatch as soon as they make contact with water and are in the sea for over a month. Sadly, most of the red crab larvae never make it back to land, as they are eaten by fish, rays, and especially, whale sharks. Around January, the baby crabs then make their way toward the safety of burrows. Many of them get lost and end up in some of the most obscure places; baby red crabs have even been found inside a computer!
After lunch and a midday rest, the weather would turn foul and the sea was rough to point where the jetty was closed.
The weather would later clear and then I was out in search of crabs again. As I said, they appear in the craziest of places.
Crabs on the barbie? They're not edible. It is estimated that there are more than 100 million red crabs living on Christmas Island, and I can say today I saw a few thousand of them. For the next few days I'll be up at dawn so I can admire and photograph this great spectacle.
