Scientists Discover ‘Cloud’ of Swarming Crabs off Panama Coast
Image: WHOI/Vimeo
Descending in a submersible in waters off Panama, scientists noticed something strange happening near the seafloor. It was a drifting fog of sediment, disturbed by something below. Diving deeper, the scientists found the cause: crabs, thousands of them, swarming in a way never before recorded.
“We just saw this cloud but had no idea what was causing it,” said Jesús Pineda, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the lead author of a paper on the crabs published on Tuesday.
“At first, we thought they were biogenic rocks or structures. Once we saw them moving, swarming like insects, we couldn’t believe it.
“Nothing like this has ever been seen, where we have this very dense swarm at the bottom,” Pineda said. “We have no idea why they might be doing this.”
Video Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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