A Christmas Island red crab during its migration
© Ingo Arndt/Minden Picture
The crabs of Christmas Island. Feeling crabby?
It’s estimated that some 40 million of these bright, red crabs live on Christmas Island, a local territory located in the Indian Ocean. Amidst our summer heat these crabs are migrating to the sea, where they will mate and spawn. The event is quite a spectacle – onlookers will see rivers of crabs, thousands of them climbing over fences and crossing roads on their journey, which always attracts plenty of tourists. This isle itself was named by a British Sea captain who discovered the destination on Christmas Day of 1643.
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