Searching for the Sea

A red tide flows from the forest to the sea. It is fall on Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean. That’s when millions of red crabs migrate. They skitter to the sea to release their eggs. How do they know what to do?

In October, the wet season begins. The crabs leave their rain forest burrows. Males travel first to the beach. They dig burrows and wait for the females. They mate in or near the burrows. Then the males return to the forest. At the turn of the high tide, females release their eggs into the ocean. Then they return home. The young grow up in the sea and come to land as adults.