Global warming shows its effects on the beaches of South California that now offer an exclusive landscape. Thousands of crabs are now laying on the beach, turning it into shades of vivid pink and crowding together for a little room on the sandy shores.
Scientists say that the crabs most likely made their way north as a result of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean, due to El Nino weather pattern. The crabs were affected by winds and currents that may have pushed them to the shore.
The California shores are familiar with the unexpected guests, although this is not something that should happen normally. Crabs are typically found further South in waters adjacent to New Mexico and their presence up north shows signs of forced adaptation to weather conditions.
Warm currents from the south that happen once in five years may be the cause for this surprising event. Their normal habitat is found near Baja California but their migration is due to unexplained warm patches in the pacific, stretching from southern California to the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea.
The unexpected phenomena is also causing large communities of Bluefin tuna to adapt and change their natural habitat. El Nino caused extended flooding and mudslides in California, causing large changes in ecosystems and habitats. Researchers, biologists and scientists that now study the occurrences, say this could be a literally red omen showing that the El Nino winter will soon break the shores.
Large numbers of animals are forced to leave their natural habitats and find more food-rich places, as the environment is getting warmer and highly polluted, killing life conditions for many species. The crab episode is not an isolated one, as in the last years we witnessed jellyfish invasions and in other remote areas, even spider invasions that covered the landscapes in white silk webs.
Humans used to take over animal habitats and build their own and it seems that now animals slowly try to take back what once was exclusively theirs. We expanded our life supporting territories and now we pay the price for that, with large numbers of species trying to claim what once was theirs alone. Thousands of crabs invade California beaches, triggering another alarm call on nature and humans.
Image Source: mnn.com
