Christmas Island Red Crab Migration

Christmas Island, Australia, is a well known holiday destination filled with thick jungles, large beaches, and world-class fishing. One of its more unique attractions however is the annual migration of the Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis).

What makes it unique is that the red crab is a terrestrial crab, meaning it lives on land and uses both gills and lungs to breathe. Around the end of November/early December, 43.7 million adult crabs (yes, really) begin the migration from their burrows to the sea. For the rest of the year the crabs live in tunnels underground, so you can only imagine the vast extent of their underground burrows.

The Red Crabs walk in a straight line from their burrows towards the northeast shore, and have been known to travel up to 2.2km in a single day! When the crabs finally arrive at the shore they burrow into the terraces to create a place to mate, once they've finished mating the males begin the migration back inland and leave the females for two weeks to lay eggs.

The eggs hatch immediately upon touching the sea water, and the females return inland while the larvae spend 3 to 4 weeks at sea before returning to land as juvenile crabs - after which they begin their own begin the migration through towns, across roads and back into the jungle.

The locals of Christmas Island have lived their lives with the crabs and taken many steps to protect them during their migratory period, including closing several roads for the duration. A small sacrifice for an incredible phenomenon.

Internationally known, the Red Crab migration attracts environmentalists and tourists eager to witness this incredible spectacle where the land and sea turns red. An incredible sight to see.