Invasion on Christmas Eve: Millions of red crabs migrate across Christmas Island

Et is the same every year: the flow of hikers never stops. On Christmas Island, Christmas is just as chaotic as in the shopping arcades in this country shortly before December 24th: You push your way through the hustle and bustle, and sometimes you want to push one or the other away, it’s so narrow. After all, the residents of Christmas Island do the same thing: if it gets too colorful for them, they kick the hikers out of the way. However, they will not be accused of unchristian behavior, because the residents of Christmas Island are dealing with special hikers who have different standards than tourists or visitors to the pedestrian zone.

The migrants of Christmas Island are several million, some fierce, palm-sized crabs that descend on the 135 square kilometer island like a biblical plague of locusts every Christmas. The crab migration across Christmas Island – a good 300 kilometers south of the Indonesian island of Java and around 2500 kilometers from the Australian city of Perth and located in the Indian Ocean – is unique: the animals willing to mate migrate there every Christmas across the island to their egg-laying sites. The rest of the year, the omnivores live in seclusion in self-dug burrows in the island’s rainforest. Not much more is known about the migratory crabs.

Twenty flat tires a day

“The masses glide across the country like a red carpet,” says one of the researchers poetically describing the spectacle. Quite profanely, however, the tarred road has to be crossed during the hike, which ends fatally for many crabs. Since the defensive animals usually do not flee, but move both pincers apart as a threatening gesture as soon as danger threatens, it is often too late when the truck drives by. Hardly a ride succeeds without crab meat in the tire tread. Sometimes the driver even has to visit a workshop after a number of loudly cracking cancer shells.

The animals’ sharp-edged claws can dig into car tyres. Up to twenty flat tires are counted per day – with around a thousand reported vehicles, that’s a high number. Compared to the dead crabs, however, it is negligible. Still, there is no reason to worry. “Looking at this gigantic migration, it is inconceivable that the population is in danger,” says the researcher. “There are probably far more than 15 million crabs on Christmas Island.” A few thousand fatalities are hardly significant. Towards evening, when the first invasion dies down, the big feast begins. It is prepared for everyone who appreciates carrion: vultures, herons, seagulls, rats, but also a distant relative: the coconut crab, which by the way tastes delicious, should love the Christmas days just as much as children waiting under the Christmas tree for presents. Christmas Island crabs are inedible to humans, even if thrown alive into boiling water like lobsters.

“It’s the humidity”

The next morning, the big crawling begins again: on streets and paths, across meadows and golf courses, even through apartments and hotel rooms if you don’t lock the doors. And by midday there’s already a certain smell hanging over the main street, especially when it’s hot, which it usually is in these tropical climes.

The question remains why the hikers set off on Christmas of all days. “It’s the humidity,” says the researcher. “It’s almost 100 percent at Christmas and gives the crabs enough liquid, which they absorb from the air.” At another time, many animals would dry up on their way to the egg-laying grounds.

Discovered at Christmas

British Captain William Mynors discovered the island in 1643. “After heavy storms and with a twenty-man sick crew, we have reached an unknown island whose coast is red with crabs. Since today is Christmas Day, I called the island ‘Christmas Island’”. With these sentences, Mynors begins the entry in his logbook. Thus began the history of Christmas Island, which has been part of Australia politically since 1958. The island’s capital is called Flying Fish Cove, has less than 2000 inhabitants and is often simply referred to as The Settlement. The small island has so far been spared from the arrival of mass tourism. Incidentally, this also applies to the second Christmas island in the world: It is located in the Pacific and belongs to the Republic of Kiribati. However, crab migrations are unknown there.

Entry: Christmas Island is part of Australia. There is a visa requirement. The fastest and, despite the high price, cheapest connection to Christmas Island is via Perth, for example with KLM, and then on with Virgin Australia for around 2000 euros (www.klm.de, www.virginaustralia.com). Accommodation: It is best to book in advance, for example in the simple “Sunset Resort” for around 130 euros per night: www.thesunset.cx. For more information visit: www.christmas.net.au.