the struggle to survive in our green
seas
can have far-reaching consequences
once a year one particular meadow in
australia
is transformed
around the first full moon of winter
an army materializes
spider crabs
for the past year they’ve been feeding
in deeper waters
now they march across the seagrass
plains
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hundreds of thousands of them
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they clamber over one another
creating great mounds
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nearly a hundred meters long
they’re not seeking mates neither are
they laying eggs
they have come here in order to grow
like all crabs their bodies are enclosed
in a hard
unexpandable shell
so to grow they have to break out of it
and that allows a soft one that has
developed belief
to expand
it will take days for the new shell to
harden
its legs are so limp that they won’t
work properly
the crab is unprotected and in great
danger
a smooth stingray
it’s huge about four meters long
it wants a soft freshly molted crab
that will be easier to eat
the crabs tried to stick together
but now disturbed by the ray they’re
scattering
a newly moated crab is too weak to keep
up with the crowd
the safest place is right in the middle
of the pile
that is why they have all assembled here
there is safety in numbers
but the vast majority of the crabs
escape
and within the next few days they will
be ready to return to the depths
and resume their lonely wanderings in
search of food
this is no graveyard
but the triumph of a hundred thousand
crabs
successfully molted
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