One Little Lost Crab
Today’s blogger is Tara Crow, our Aquarium’s public programs manager.
I took a quick pause from my other work duties this morning to find something fun and exciting to post on the Aquarium’s Facebook Wall. Checking around, it seemed like a quiet news day on the marine science front and I was struggling with my task. Staff member and education specialist Amanda Jones walked into the office to stretch her legs when she noticed something funny walking by outside.
“Is that a crab?” she asked. Sure enough, a rogue, striped shore crab had somehow found its way, a quarter mile from the pier pilings where it should be living, to the front of our Aquarium. Coincidentally, Amanda had arrived at just the right moment to see the crab walking by our office.
The crab was stalking along in the open area next to a busy footpath and the pier deck stairs that has been getting quite a bit of traffic during the spring break rush. A few of us decided to go out to check on the little crab. Striped shore crabs can spend days out of water if they’re not exposed to direct sun and this crab appeared to be in good shape, other than being totally covered in dirt and dust. I grabbed the crab (who turned out to be a female), brought her inside and placed her in a beaker of salt water to clean her off. She seems to be doing just fine now. Our best guess as to how she made it to the front of the Aquarium is that either she was dropped by a bird, or someone had pulled her from a pier piling.
As a happy ending to the story, the once-lost crab is now safe and sound in the Aquarium and will be making herself at home in our touch tanks where she will be well fed and kept safely away from predators. Be sure to stop by and meet our newest crustacean local and help us come up with a name for this little rescuee.
