The beaches of Hawaii were inundated with millions of tiny, purple pea-sized crab-like creatures, in a never before seen phenomenon.
Surf board riders were the first to spot the tiny creatures, as the creatures crawled up onto the surfer’s boards.
Scientists speculate that the tiny creatures may be larvae stage of the spotted reef crab. Biologists admit they have never seen anything like it before. They don’t know where the creatures have come from and have no name for them.
Others speculate that it is a ‘sign of the times’ in a biblical sense and that Armageddon is just around the corner.
Experts race to try to understand the cause of the phenomenon. Many theorize it is the result of storms, while others claim it is the change in water temperatures, or pollution. Others argue that if it is the result of pollution, other species would be also affected. Still other experts claim that rough seas may have created air bubbles under the shell, preventing the creatures from diving again, in order to escape the tide.
Those that didn’t die have were collected by researchers from the Waikiki Aquarium. They hope to be able to keep them alive long enough to see what these tiny creatures can grow into.
“There are a lot of things we don’t know about the ocean,” said one researcher. The fact is that 95% of the world’s seas, which play an integral role in many of the Earth’s eco systems, remain unexplored and unseen by human eyes.
