During my recent trip to Uttarakhand , I was faced with a problem I had never encountered before. We were passing through Delhi, but we had hardly any time in the city. On earlier visits when I have had to change trains/flights at Delhi, I have always arrived in the morning and left again at night, visiting relatives in between. This time, I was arriving in the city at night, and leaving again early in the morning. There was hardly any time to visit people. I would only have a couple of hours with them before I’d have to leave again. For the first time, we considered booking a hotel, but there again, we were hesitant about the actual hotels, the costs involved, and the logistics of getting from the airport to the railway station and then back again from the station to the airport. That’s when we remembered reading something about a corporate-managed lounge at Delhi station. We soon figured out that we could book online and pay by the hour. Besides, we also learnt that there wasn’t ju
Walking on
the sands of Cherai Beach in the rain, our attention was captured by what
appeared, at first sight, to be a ripple on the sand. A closer look revealed a
tiny crab scuttling into its hole. Can you spot the crab in this photograph?
Here, take
a closer look…
These crabs
are called ‘Ghost Crabs’, because of the apparent ‘invisibility’ their
camouflage offers. We saw lots of them over the next couple of days, both small
and big…
But were
especially fascinated by these huge ones…
They stayed
at the edge of the water, waiting for the waves to flow over them, yet
retaining their hold on the sand and staying in their place long after the
waves had retreated.
Can you see the crab in the water? |
Their behavior
was intriguing, and it was only after we returned that we learnt that these
crabs are only partially amphibious, and breathe through gills moistened with
sea water, though they cannot stay underwater for long. Therefore, they stay
near the shore and regularly venture into the sea to wet their gills, taking
care to stay well inland to retain their hold on land!
These crabs
significantly brightened up the monsoon evening on the beach at Cherai! It only
reiterates the fact that nature always has interesting to things to show us.
All we need are the eyes to see them!
Those are some beautiful pictures... what a beautiful creature ..
ReplyDeleteBikram
Thank you, Bikram! It is indeed beautiful, isnt it?
DeleteNice pictures, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you, Empty Rucksack!
DeleteNice pictures, thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteAwesome post of ghost crab thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteWild Wacky
THank youm, Neetu
DeleteGreat photos! I like how the crab has this great camouflage. You just can't even see it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marcia! The camouflage is really amazing!
DeleteHey thanks for sharing this information.
ReplyDeleteyou are welcome.
Delete