I promised to find something to photograph above the water line: Crabs!
Crabs are abundant anywhere on the tiny Maldivian islands. Every dead snail's house that one finds on the beaches seems to be occupied by a hermit crab, and all holes in the sand dug by ghost and other small crabs.
Hermit crabs are funny creatures: they crisscross the beaches carrying their homes on their backs seemingly with purpose. When they notice you approach, they stop, drop dead and withdraw into their shell. After a very short while, their curiosity gains the upper hand and they extend their "eyes on sticks" and watch you. Some are quite daring and aggressive. I followed several with my macro lens and one even turned around and tried to attack the lens, closed its distance on me and got into the minimum focus distance, so that I had to retreat to be able to focus.
I watched a crab fight, where one crab attacked another, that was hiding in its shell. The attacker turned its victim around and prodded it with its nasty scissors... After a while the hermit under attack lost patience, simply turned tables and came out of its shell with a vengeance so that both got into a full-fledged crab fight with lots of scissor clapping and rolling around. Apparently they do that occasionally, when they have outgrown their houses, need larger accommodation and cannot find an empty shell of the right size ....
Ghost crabs seem to be cannibalistic in nature. This huge crab raised its head quite threateningly when I approached interrupting its meal, which seemed to be a feast of crab salad.
Crabs are abundant anywhere on the tiny Maldivian islands. Every dead snail's house that one finds on the beaches seems to be occupied by a hermit crab, and all holes in the sand dug by ghost and other small crabs.
Hermit crabs are funny creatures: they crisscross the beaches carrying their homes on their backs seemingly with purpose. When they notice you approach, they stop, drop dead and withdraw into their shell. After a very short while, their curiosity gains the upper hand and they extend their "eyes on sticks" and watch you. Some are quite daring and aggressive. I followed several with my macro lens and one even turned around and tried to attack the lens, closed its distance on me and got into the minimum focus distance, so that I had to retreat to be able to focus.
in a coconut
I watched a crab fight, where one crab attacked another, that was hiding in its shell. The attacker turned its victim around and prodded it with its nasty scissors... After a while the hermit under attack lost patience, simply turned tables and came out of its shell with a vengeance so that both got into a full-fledged crab fight with lots of scissor clapping and rolling around. Apparently they do that occasionally, when they have outgrown their houses, need larger accommodation and cannot find an empty shell of the right size ....
Four hermit crabs in conference
The lower right one seems interested in the green house
The green one is fed up with the prodding
and turns the tables ....
I couldn't follow the fight to its end, as it was dinner time and the family waited ...
Ghost crabs dig holes in the sand where they disappear when danger approaches. They come out eventually though, if you sit still and wait for them to turn up. This one dug its hole undisturbed while I was patiently watching.
An armful of sand ....
My home is my castle ...
Ghost crabs seem to be cannibalistic in nature. This huge crab raised its head quite threateningly when I approached interrupting its meal, which seemed to be a feast of crab salad.
auf Wanderschaft
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