“年度入侵”：数以千计的蜘蛛蟹正在攻占澳大利亚海岸

“年度入侵”：数以千计的蜘蛛蟹正在攻占澳大利亚海岸

This footage of giant spider crabs congregating in their thousands in Australian waters is sure to make your skin crawl.

成千上万的巨型蜘蛛蟹聚集在澳大利亚水域的画面，一定会让你起鸡皮疙瘩。

The creatures meet en masse annually so they can all shed their shells for new versions at the same time.

这些生物每年聚在一起，这样它们就可以在同一时间换壳。

The creepy video was unearthed by Australian Geographic.

这段令人毛骨悚然的视频是由澳大利亚地理杂志发现并拍摄的。

It shows a huge amount of giant spider crabs piling on top of one another.

大量巨大的蜘蛛蟹互相堆叠在一起。

The crustaceans are said to have come from the deep sea of the Bass Strait to the sheltered waters of Port Phillip Bay, in Melbourne, Australia.

这些甲壳类动物据说是从巴斯海峡的深海，来到澳大利亚墨尔本菲利浦湾的受保护水域。

This extraordinary natural spectacle is said to occur every winter in Australia.

据说澳大利亚每年冬天都会出现这种奇特的自然景观。

However, similar events have been observed in different waters across the world.

然而，在世界各地的不同水域也观察到了类似的事件。

It’s thought that the crabs meet on mass to moult their shells in an attempt to be protected from predators.

人们认为螃蟹成群结队地蜕壳，是为了防止被掠食者捕食。

This is because a crab that’s just moulted it shell becomes soft and vulnerable until it’s new outer shell forms.

因为一只刚蜕壳的螃蟹，在新的外壳形成之前会变得柔软脆弱。

When thousands of the crabs meet they end up creating piles that can be multiple crabs deep.

当成千上万的螃蟹相遇时，它们最终会形成多只螃蟹叠加的成堆的螃蟹。

The crabs lower down will be more protected from predators like octopus and seagulls.

下面的螃蟹将受到更多的保护，免受章鱼和海鸥等捕食者的侵害。