After the most recent event to take over Huntington’s Dog Beach, the long strand of sand could easily pull off the name Crab Beach.

On Wednesday afternoon, the water line was filled with washed-up little red crab critters – some dead, many still pinching their claws and squirming around. It was an interesting sight for people passing by Goldenwest Street, on the coast to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands inlet in Huntington Beach.

According to the estimations of the lifeguards, about 1,000 crabs arrived ashore with the tide. While their numbers are still impressive, they are still nowhere near the hundreds of thousands – close to millions – of crabs that washed the entire coastline last June.

However, beachgoers out for a walk with their dogs were still surprised by the invasion of red crabs. Step on one by mistake and you might just feel a little pinch, like Katie Glover, who was a first-time visitor from L.A.

Scientifically known as Pleuroncodes planipes, the pelagic red crabs or tuna crabs are just 1 to 3 inches long, and they look a lot like miniature lobsters or crawfish.

Their usual home is off Baja, but due to the El Niño conditions that push currents in from the south, the crabs have been washing up over the past few years along the Orange County coastline. Decades before that, the crabs were a rare sight in the area.

Locals reported that only last week, a handful were found washed-up in Seal Beach, and some more in Newport on Wednesday. But nothing compared with the massive wash-up from last year.

Beach agencies along the coast handled it differently. For example, Newport called for beach maintenance crews that came in and scooped up hundreds of thousands of crabs. Other beaches took a more lax stance, letting the sea gulls and tides take care of the little crabs.

A lot of them ended up in the dump, which is surprising for those who don’t know that the pelagic red crab has little meat for eating. One of the most off-putting things about them, however, is the fact that they emit a wretched stench when dead.

Even other animals, such as dogs walking on the beach, are not interested in the feast. It will be a while before the beach clears out, depending on whether or not more red crabs wash ashore.
Image Source: RT