Rolling Crabs
Sea Squared`s Atlantic Circuit
Chris & Christine Swain
Mon 31 Mar 2008 12:58
Statia apart from the oil terminal is a very pretty island, volcanic cones and rainforest, not the sandy beach, palm tree Caribbean. The inhabitants are extremely friendly, and live in colourful tidy houses.
As we were hiking to the rim of the volcano (what do you expect?) we could here movement in the fallen leaves: It turned out to be soldier crabs, (like hermit crabs in borrowed shells, but up to fist sized), rolling down the hillside in their shells. Apparently they roll all the way down, from as high as 600m (rim of crater), to the sea. There they mate and then climb all the way back up to the top. The things animals do for love!
Photos will follow but we still have no WIFI.