Charles H. Sloan-Watch as massive amount of crabs scamper across Australian island: 'It's quite weird'

AI-assisted summary
• The migration, one of the largest in recent years, is causing traffic delays and closures as crabs swarm roads and buildings.
• The crabs are migrating to the sea so females can release their eggs.
• After mating, female crabs can produce up to 100,000 eggs each.

Millions of red crabs are coming out of their burrows on Christmas Island in Australia to begin one of their largest migrations in years.

With the crabs now moving toward the sea, traffic delays and even road closures have resulted. Lin Gaff, a junior ranger program leader, told ABC News Australia the crabs are inescapable.

"They're across the island and going to all sides and nooks and crannies of it," Gaff said. "It is actually quite weird to have crustaceans running around in your school oval and running into your patio and across your living room floor."

The current migration is one of the biggest in recent years, according to a Parks Australia spokesperson's statement to ABC News. The spokesperson added that the crabs' migration was still in the early stages, with officials still trying to assess the number of crabs involved.

Watch: Mass amounts of bright red crabs migrate on Christmas Island

Video from Christmas Island National Park in Australia shows the bright red crabs along a road, dotting the landscape in red.

"It's shaping up to be a bumper year for the red crab migration!" the national park said in a Facebook post.

Gaff told ABC News Australia that last year's migration season was delayed by almost four months due to dry weather during the migration season.

Why do red crabs migrate?

Female crabs produce eggs three days after mating and stay in their burrows for weeks to let their eggs develop; each one of them can make up to 100,000 eggs, according to the Christmas Island National Parks website

Then, when the moon reaches its last quarter, the crabs leave their burrows and head to the shoreline where they wait for the high tide to turn before dawn. They are moved into the sea by the rising tide and release their eggs before returning to the forest, according to the park.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.