--- title: Crabs Southern California Coast El Niño: Tuna Crabs Invade Beaches description: Southern California beach goers expecting the typical sandy shores may have been surprised to find the coast dotted with thousands crabs. canonical: https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-17T20:55:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T08:18:08.165Z article:section: Science og:title: Crabs Southern California Coast El Niño: Tuna Crabs Invade Beaches og:description: Southern California beach goers expecting the typical sandy shores may have been surprised to find the coast dotted with thousands crabs. og:url: https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3d622423b7d9daa/698854fecd1bba66326fbdcc/screen-shot-2015-06-17-at-4-54-39-pm.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2015-06-17 at 4.54.39 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Crabs Southern California Coast El Niño: Tuna Crabs Invade Beaches twitter:description: Southern California beach goers expecting the typical sandy shores may have been surprised to find the coast dotted with thousands crabs. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3d622423b7d9daa/698854fecd1bba66326fbdcc/screen-shot-2015-06-17-at-4-54-39-pm.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Thousands of Crabs Invade a California Beach  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 17, 2015 8:55 PM UTC   by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 17, 2015 8:55 PM UTC Beachgoers in southern California expecting the typical pristine shores may have been surprised to find the coast dotted with thousands of tiny red crabs in recent weeks. Scientists say that the tuna crabs, typically around three inches in length, are typically found further South in waters adjacent to Mexico. They likely made their way North as a result of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean, in part due to the El Niño weather pattern. Because they spend time swimming through the water, rather than on the seafloor, they’re affected by winds and currents that may push them to shore. This isn’t the first time tuna crabs have appeared on California shores, but it’s certainly not a regular occurrence. Warm currents from the South every five years may be the cause, according to the [Los Angeles _Times_](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-red-crabs-newport-beach-20150122-story.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/"},"headline":"Watch Thousands of Crabs Invade a California Beach","datePublished":"2015-06-17T20:55:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:18:08.165Z","description":"The tiny tuna crabs are typically found further South in waters adjacent to Mexico","url":"https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3d622423b7d9daa/698854fecd1bba66326fbdcc/screen-shot-2015-06-17-at-4-54-39-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3d622423b7d9daa/698854fecd1bba66326fbdcc/screen-shot-2015-06-17-at-4-54-39-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2015-06-17 at 4.54.39 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3925153/crabs-california-beach/","name":"Watch Thousands of Crabs Invade a California Beach"}}]}] ```