Small Red Crabs Invade Sonoma County Beach
BODEGA BAY (AP) -- More than a dozen tiny red crabs have washed ashore in Sonoma County. They are thought to be the final remnants of a wave of southern species brought north by unusually warm waters.
The Press Democrat reports that the crabs were found last week on Salmon Creek Beach and are being kept at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab.
University of California, Davis, professor of evolution and ecology Eric Sanford says the 18 pelagic red crabs are the first ones reported this far north since 1985, when there was an isolated sighting recorded in Fort Bragg.
The same crabs were found in Monterey by the thousands last year.
The species is normally found in southern and central Baja, in Mexico.
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