Millions of red crabs migrate to the picturesque Christmas Island every year to breed offspring, and this huge migration makes tourists breathtaking.
The Daily Mail reported on the 17th that it is the time of the annual migration of red crabs, and more than 50 million red crabs will come from the jungle to the national park coast in northwest Australia. Both locals and travelers alike are scrambling at this time to capture what is considered one of the greatest animal migrations on earth, an animal that turns the entire island into a sea of red. One can see these crustaceans flocking across roads, bridges, rocks, streams, and even cliffs, eventually through the entire town, arriving at their destination on time to breed.
For the convenience of the red crabs, the island staff spends months building special crab bridges and temporary barriers. Dr Tanya Detto, coordinator of the Invasive Species Project on Christmas Island, said she had never seen such a migration since 2005. While experts on the island can predict the approximate migration routes of the red crabs, there are subtle changes from year to year, and the team spends a lot of time managing bridges and obstacles.
In general, the migration of red crabs usually begins after the first rain of the rainy season in October or November, when heavy rains for several consecutive days at the beginning of the month prompt the male crabs to leave their homes and head for the beach, where they pick up the females along the way. The exact timing and speed of migration depends on the phase of the moon, and these clever crustaceans know how to accurately calculate the time to leave the cave and reach the beach in order to better lay eggs. During the migration and reproduction, each female crab will release a staggering 100,000 eggs into the Indian Ocean for five to six consecutive nights. A month later, the little red crab will return to the coast and return to the rainforest of Christmas Island. However, the vast majority of the little red crabs do not reach the finish line, and they are eaten by a variety of fish, including whale sharks, waiting for the annual feast. (Compiled by Wang Yuqing)