Did you see this? Scientists discovered a MASSIVE SWARM of crabs on the sea floor off the coast of Panama!!
They were exploring about one thousand feet underwater in Deep Rover 2, their submersible, when they noticed the seafloor MOVING.
Biologist Jesús Pineda stated:
When we dove down in the submarine, we noticed the water became murkier as we got closer to the bottom. There was this turbid layer, and you couldn’t see a thing beyond it. We just saw this cloud but had no idea what was causing it. As we slowly moved down to the bottom of the seafloor, all of the sudden we saw these things. At first, we thought they were biogenic rocks or structures. Once we saw them moving—swarming like insects—we couldn’t believe it.
WATCH:
Hannibal Bank Seamount Expedition from Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst..
Through DNA analysis, the researchers learned that they were looking at Pleuroncodes planipes, or red crabs. Learn more about this incredible crab swarm at Ars Technica.