red crabs across the island start marching towards the ocean at the same time to mate and spawn. While the exact timing of the migration is said to be determined by the phase of the moon, this year’s migration has already begun.
Videos and photographs captured recently, show tens of millions of the marine arthropods swarming across roads, up the bridges and sometimes resting at the entrances of office blocks to escape the heat. They are migrating in such large numbers that staff of the Christmas Island National Park had to occasionally sweep them off roads so they do not get squashed by cars.
“World-renowned naturalist Sir David Attenborough described the red crab migration as ‘like a great scarlet curtain moving down the cliffs and rocks towards the sea’ and considered filming the spectacle as one of his 10 greatest TV moments,” Bianca Priest, Christmas Island National Park’s acting manager, said. “Over the years visitors have travelled from every corner of the world to witness this wildlife phenomenon.”
While the event is one of the island’s biggest tourist attraction which draws nature-lovers from across the world, it is not a new sight for residents. Earlier this week, some residents of the Drumsite settlement, on the northeast coast, were unable to leave their homes due to a massive number of crabs crossing the roads.
