Overview
- Park managers say the first wet-season rains over the weekend triggered the island-wide movement from forest burrows to the coast.
- Authorities are closing some roads and directing traffic as residents use rakes and leaf blowers to clear crabs and avoid crushing them.
- The migration and spawning are synchronized to lunar and tidal cues, with females releasing eggs before dawn on a receding high tide during the last quarter moon.
- Officials credit a 2016 microwasp introduction for reducing yellow crazy ants, leading to a strong rebound from roughly 55 million crabs in the early 2000s.
- The event draws additional visitors each year, and the park advises that major spawning is expected on November 15–16 with a possible second event in December.