Australia🇦🇺, Christmas Island, crab migration

Christmas Island is a relatively small (135 sq. km) island of volcanic origin in the Indian Ocean, belonging to Australia. 

The main attraction of the island is the annual migration of 100 million red crabs (Gecarcoidea natalis), during the mating season, which takes place around mid-October to January, setting off on a multi-day journey from the rain forests to the shores of the ocean, while covering everything that comes in the way with an orange-red carpet: roads, playgrounds, courtyards, buildings.

It is difficult to accurately predict the date of migration, it all depends on when the wet season begins. In order to reach the shore, the crabs need about 18 days. One of the most impressive natural migrations is taking place – the synchronous movement of tens of millions of crabs for several kilometers.

The ground red crab is a species of crustacean that lives only on Christmas Island.