Thousands of spider crabs swarm UK beach
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Thousands of crabs have swarmed a UK beach. You can see it for yourself below:
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Holidaymakers in St Ives, Cornwall, were stunned to see the impressive spectacle this week.
The waters at Porthgwidden Beach over the past few days have been filled with European spider crabs, which are known for their distinctive colour, sharp spines and spider-like legs.
They often gather in large numbers near the UK coastline to protect themselves from predators.
They also use the opportunity to shed their outer shell before returning to the depths.
According to reports, these huge gatherings are becoming increasingly common in the UK due to rising sea temperatures.
Kate Lowe is a marine photographer, and captured some stunning images of the incredible event.
"I go snorkelling most of the time throughout the year but I have never seen spider crabs in such numbers," she said.
"When we turned up at the beach it looked as though there were lots of dark rocks under the surface.
"But it turned out that there were thousands of crabs just two or three steps into the water.
"It was just really incredible, they were only knee deep. I was able to float on the water above them and tried not to step on them.
"A lot of the tourists were squealing at the sight of them.
"Their shedded shells were just floating around."
But while these creatures don't seem to have caused any problems for beach goers, the same cannot be said for a tiny crab that crawled into a woman's ear a few months back. Yes, really.
Earlier this year, the woman in question took to TikTok to share the terrifying ordeal.
She had been snorkelling in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, when she got more up close and personal with marine life than she had ever intended.
In the video, a pal can be seen taking tweezers to her ear in a desperate bid to extricate the creepy crab.
After a lot of prying – and agonising waiting – the scamp eventually emerged from its adopted home, much to the poor snorkeler's relief.
Captioning the video, she wrote: "Snorkelling in San Juan. A f***ing crab yo."
Yeah, just the thought of that crustacean's little legs scuttling around the old earhole is enough to make you feel a little queasy, isn't it?
The clip has gone viral, racking up 2.4 million views and thousands of comments.
One person wrote: "My anxiety was on 10 watching and waiting."
Another said: "Thanks for the warning. Earplugs when in the water while on vacation."
A third added: "New fear unlocked."
A big yikes, I think we can all agree.
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