Every year Christmas Island is taken over by millions of red crabs, and this one is no exception.
Every year Christmas Island is taken over by millions of red crabs, and this one is no exception.
Their journey across the small Australian Island is much anticipated by many, and each year tourists gather to watch as a band of red moves towards its Indian Ocean spawning ground.
This year little creatures began their trek across the 52-square-mile landmass in mid-November.
To help ensure they make it from the rainforest to the ocean and back, local authorities block roads as needed, monitor the special crab bridges, and put up barriers that help the crustaceans stay on track.
Said one regular migration watcher, "It's a sea of red…The sound, you can imagine millions and millions of crabs sort of crawling across the island, so the sound is quite extraordinary…People plan for years to come and see this."
Advanced travel preparation, however, can be tricky.
Exactly when the crabs decide to get moving varies from year to year and can happen any time between September and January.
Typically, the beginning of rainy season is an indication that the migration will soon commence.
As they’re incredibly sensitive to sunlight, the crabs can’t take to land until there’s a good amount of moisture in the air and ample cloud cover over their heads.
