if there’s anything scarier than three-foot marauder crabs, it’s three-foot marauder crabs who are in a hurry.
Giant red crabs invade Antarctic abysss: everything is awesome about this story.
[L]arge crabs stretching almost a meter wide have invaded the edge of the Antarctic, destroying ecosystems that took millions of years to build.
The King Crabs have colonized the "Antarctic abyss" of Palmer Deep, a basin more than 4,300 feet down, off the Antarctic Peninsula...
It's a very destructive invasion, says Grist. They "eat everything they find."
[T]hey're gobbling up sea urchins, sea lilies, sea cucumbers, and starfish. They're also messing with the make-up of the sea floor...
Scientists had predicted these guys would invade Antarctic waters at some point, but they gave the crabs 100 years to do the deed. That was three years ago.
No word yet on when the crabs are expected to reach a Lovecraftian level, when "the small, low cities under the sea grew to vast and imposing labyrinths..."
(story via Ed Webb's Twittering; crab image via Wikipedia's terrified gaze)
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