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Crabs hunt for food by scent mostly. This one came all the way over the hill in the
background following a zig-zag trail and after falling off that little cliff,
begins to home in on the prize. When it finally sights the fish head it gets
quite excited.
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Crab captures mackerel head
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This individual pauses to look at the camera, then seems to decide that we are
not interesting enough to divert it from its mission of looking under a rock.
I suspect crabs find bits of food that way.
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Crab Lifts Rock
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Crabs are inquisitive. That probably is a survival trait. Being scavengers, they
must investigate any unusual object as a possible source of food. More often than
not the object cannot eat them. This individual actually rides the ROV for a while.
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Crab Rides Camera ROV
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Crabs are also competitive. This pair come from somewhere behind the camera and
race to the bait bag. Once they determine that it is big enough for both they seem
willing to share.
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Crabs race to bait bag
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Crabs and lobsters also compete. You would think that the lobster with its size
advantage might intimidate the crab, but as you will see, the crab can exploit
a weakness in the lobster. Lobsters have ticklish tails.
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Crab tickles lobster's tail
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This dancing crab pauses to take a look at the camera and then goes back to its dance.
I suspect that this behavior, which we see repeatedly is some sort of shell maintenance job the crab is doing, scraping the shell against a rock.
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Dancing crab
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Here is another individual that gives the camera a close inspection. It gives us
a good chance the see some of the crabs working parts up close.
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Crab closeup
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As well as being inquisitive, crabs can be aggressive. They are pretty much
fearless and may defend their space even from a machine that is many times
their size.
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Crab attack
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Crab are often looking under things. This one lifts a shell and a startled eel darts out and scoots under the kelp.
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Crab discovers eel
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