Hordes of tuna crabs have again invaded stretches of the Orange County coastline.
Lifeguards in Newport Beach said they’ve seen waves of the crabs washing ashore since Wednesday. On Friday morning, lifeguard battalion Chief Mike Halphide said he could look out the window near the Newport Pier and see hundreds of the tiny creatures — most, if not all, of them dead.
“We’ve got just a slew of red crabs at the high-tide line,” he said.
And they're back! Red crabs washing onshore again… almost the same time as last year! pic.twitter.com/gckBt1do8k
— Mister Suess (@mistersuess) May 14, 2016
Red crabs visit #Laguna. Pictured is beach below Cleo Street@NOAA @lagunabeachgov pic.twitter.com/1ATbu4QqB1
— Bryce Alderton (@AldertonBryce) May 13, 2016
Marine experts have speculated that warmer ocean temperatures could be causing the crabs to wash ashore more frequently. Currents pushed groups of crabs ashore at least twice in 2015.Crabs primarily inhabit the west coast of Baja California and the Gulf of California and spend the majority of the year hiding on sandy ocean bottoms.
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