The ocean is an even greater mystery than outer space. So much of it has yet to be explored, and so much of the wildlife there has eluded us. However, people are finding more creative ways to explore the ocean floor. Just recently, filmmakers launched a robot disguised as a crab into the ocean to capture the other crabs' surprising behaviors. You will never believe what they found.
Why Did Researchers Deploy This Robot Crab?
While certain animal behavior may be of no interest to you, it definitely interests scientists. Discover Wildlife shared how filmmakers set up 'spy cameras' to observe ocean wildlife. These cameras were deployed for the BBC TV series Spy in the Ocean. Their goal was to observe and "film incredible behavior that would likely have been disrupted by human presence."
While filming, one of these 'spy cameras' captured some unique footage of spider crabs. The footage showed hordes of spider crabs in the process of outgrowing their shells. When a spider crab outgrows its shell, the new shell may be larger, but it is softer than their previous shell. It takes time before it will harden again. Having a shorter shell makes them more vulnerable to predators, such as stingrays.
However, these crabs know what they are doing. Rather than fend for themselves, Discover Wildlife shared that "to protect the softer-shell crabs, the harder-shelled build 'towers' in the ocean to cover them."
The Surprising Way The Real Crabs Responded
The spider crabs seemed unfazed by the robot crab at first. Eventually, they started to interact with it. For example, the footage showed that one of the crabs even used the robot crab to hide from a stingray. However, nothing was more incredible than the surprising behavior these crabs exhibited when the stingray decided to attack the imposter crab.
As the hard-shell crabs were building their fortresses to protect the soft-shell crabs, the robot crab was left alone out in the open. The stingray, mistaking it for real prey, approaches it and attempts to eat the crab. Unfortunately for the ray, this 'spy camera' was not as easy a target as it thought. After receiving the "fully death ray experience," the robot crab heads back to the masses of spider crabs to escape the stingray.
As the robot crab began to attempt to climb the tower of crabs, something incredible happened; the robot crabs came to the spy. One by one, these spider crabs surround the 'spy camera', building a protective fortress around it. It is truly spectacular how this species sticks together.
