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Crabs on their annual migration. For most of the year, red crabs can be found within Christmas Islands' forests. Each year they migrate to the coast to breed; the beginning of the wet season (usually October/November) allows the crabs to increase their activity and stimulates their annual migration. [3]
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What is Christmas Island's mass red crab migration?
Are there red crabs on Christmas Island?
Do red crabs migrate a year?
What happens on Christmas Island every year?
Christmas Island’s mass red crab migration is one of the most incredible natural processes on Earth. Every year, millions of these large crabs emerge from the forest and make their way to the ocean to breed, swarming across roads, streams, rocks and beaches.
In the late twentieth century there were estimated to be about 120 million red crabs on the island, and the mass migration made by the mature individuals to the coast was spectacular. The red crabs are a keystone species , feeding on the forest floor on leaves, fallen fruits, flowers, seedlings and carrion and maintaining a lawn-like turf.
The island is particularly noted for its prodigious populations of Christmas Island red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis), whose mass migrations at spawning time may number over a hundred million individuals.
Nov 19, 2021 · Every year as the first notable shower of the rainy season begins, a truly awe-inspiring event happens on Christmas Island: Millions of red crabs begin their annual migration across the island, moving with unwavering determination to reach the shoreline where mating and spawning occur.
Oct 29, 2022 · Red crab migration season has kicked off on Christmas Island — and experts say it could be one of the biggest in years, with up to 65 million crustaceans making the journey.
Jan 11, 2024 · Red crabs ( Gecarcoidea natalis) are native to Christmas Island, Australia. The central plateau of Christmas Island is dominated by strands of rainforest. The island has a tropical climate and experiences both a wet season (December through April) and a dry season (May through November).
