Dead Crabs Wash Ashore By Thousands On England Beaches The Huffington Post | Travis Walter Donovan Posted: 01- 6-11 12:14 PM
As if thousands of dead birds falling from the sky and millions of fish turning up dead across the world in the last week weren't enough, the Thanet Coast in the UK is now littered with tens of thousands of dead crabs that have washed ashore.
The events are likely unrelated, however, and the BBC notes that this is the third year in a row thousands of dead devil crabs, also known as velvet swimming crabs, have turned up on the coastline near Kent, England. It is estimated that 40,000 of the dead crabs have washed up on the beaches this year.
According to LiveScience, experts believe cold weather is to blame for the massive crab deaths. Tests conducted in past years have turned up no results for disease or similar problems, leaving the cause an unexplained mystery, though hypothermia is conjectured.
The news of thousands of dead crabs follows similar reports of immense wildlife deaths among birds and fish occurring around the world in the past week. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky on New Year's Eve in Beebe, Arkansas, and experts believe fireworks are likely to blame. Days later, around 500 similar bird deaths were reported in Louisiana, around 300 miles south of the Arkansas incident. Wildlife officials believe the events to be unrelated, citing power lines as a likely culprit for the latter incident. Then over 50 birds turned up dead on a street in Sweden, and reports surfaced of hundreds of dead birds fallen from the sky in Kentucky discovered last week.
Massive fish deaths were also reported across the world recently, with two million dead fish surfacing in Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and similar incidents in New Zealand and Brazil. Much speculation remains about many of the events, with officials believing anything from inclement weather to other environmental factors to be the cause, though official tests to investigate the matters are still underway.
