Collected crabs
Observation Type: Timed survey
Molts/crabs found: Yes
European green crabs found: No
Also submitting Dungeness crab molt data: Yes
Number of Dungeness crab molts found: 0
Sex of Dungeness crab #1: No abdomen present
Carapace width of Dungeness crab #1: 95
Carapace height of Dungeness crab #1: 59
Sex of Dungeness crab #2: No abdomen present
Carapace width of Dungeness crab #2: 77
Carapace height of Dungeness crab #2: 52
Sex of Dungeness crab #3: No abdomen present
Carapace width of Dungeness crab #3: 64
Carapace height of Dungeness crab #3: 46
Sex of Dungeness crab #4: No abdomen present
Carapace width of Dungeness crab #4: 44
Carapace height of Dungeness crab #4: 30
1 Comment. Leave new
Hi Jennifer,
We’ve noticed our admin comments haven’t been posting, so I’m sorry for the delay in getting a note to you! We’re working with the developers on that now.
I wanted to respond about this great, diverse collection you found. Looks like many native hairy shore crabs, one partial red rock crab and several graceful crab molts. What a great haul! Even those with legs are molts. When crabs wiggle their way out of the back of their old shell, they leave behind everything, including their legs and eye cover and gill covers, so molts look identical to live or dead crabs, but they feel lighter, are empty of any guts, and smell very neutral. Often we find molts without legs because they’re delicate and end up breaking down quickly in the waves. I love this informative video from the Anchorage Museum of a king crab molting to see the process in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgffHW8RSXM
One other note is that your last two reports are from an inland location not on the shore–could you either log-in to MyCoast via your browser (not the app interface) to edit your report locations or share with me what beach you searched so I can make that change to help keep your privacy and improve our accuracy?
Thanks for keep watch out on Whidbey!