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Whether you find them cute or creepy, trillions of baby red crabs have been born on Christmas Island, starting their journey from the ocean to tropical rainforests.
Key points:
- A senior ranger says trillions of baby red crabs have hatched on Christmas Island
- The crustaceans are travelling from the ocean into the rainforests
- The migration has prompted road closures and other quirky measures to protect the babies
Christmas Island National Park senior ranger Azmi Yon said the tiny critters began emerging from the ocean over the past two weeks and were already crossing the roads.
"Millions and trillions of them are covering the road and the road is the red carpet," he said.
"The road is meant to be black [but] red is just taking over.
"So basically there's a lot [of baby crabs] and more in the water."
After spawning in the ocean, baby red crabs take about nine days to travel inland, where they stay hidden in rocky outcrops and forest debris for the first three years of their life.
This season's annual adult red crab migration was one of the biggest in years, as an estimated 65 million creatures travelled about 20 kilometres by claw to breed on the coast.
Mr Yon has been a ranger on Christmas Island for 27 years. He said this year there were already more babies than he expected.
While it is difficult to count the exact number of baby red crabs, Mr Yon says it is in the trillions.
"There's been waves of crabs coming out, coming up, pushing each other all the way out and [it's] happening everywhere," he said.
"It's a good year this year, from my understanding, it's really good."
Barely the size of a fingernail, the vulnerable baby crabs have several threats to watch out for during their trek.
"There's chickens that eat them and there's a whole bunch of predators that really like them," Mr Yon said.
"They're a small crab and are very soft on the shells at the moment until they get a little bit bigger, then they can protect themselves."
Mr Yon says often when a baby crab dies, the others will eat it.
"They eat all the friends that died – basically they are omnivorous, they eat the greens and also their friends as well," he said.
Several measures are put in place throughout the island to help protect the baby crabs from vehicles, including road closures and even leaf blowers to blow them out of the way.
Successful season
It looks like it will be another good year for the crab population, with Mr Yon explaining that rangers put a lot of time into "managing" them.
"For the crabs to come and do their bit, and spawn and come back with a whole bunch of baby crabs – mate, that's considered success," he said.
"We help them do what they need to do and when you see the [babies] return, it's a big thing."