Blog Post Image: How red crabs on Christmas Island speak for the tropics

Each year, millions of Christmas Island red crabs make a two-week journey to the coast to mate. The migration begins in November at the start of the rainy season, and female crabs must release their eggs into the ocean before the morning of the high tide that precedes the December new moon. The researchers found that a late or light rainy season can delay or entirely cancel this meticulous process. Photo by Allison Shaw, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology