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Crab tides

On only a few nights each year, female land crabs of Christmas Island risk making their way down to the sea. All are laden with hundreds of eggs, which must be dispersed into the ocean if they are to hatch. But these are land crabs and they can neither swim nor breathe underwater. There's a great risk of drowing which is why they pick low tides to minimise the danger. The eggs will develop far off shore, and in a month's time a great swarm of baby crabs will return, again choosing the perfect tide.

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