These photos all depict Maldivian crabs. But these amazing little creatures have kept us entertained on many a beach for many a long hour. This post is dedicated to them all.

I've always had a weakness for hermit crabs, the little guys who appropriate a cast-off shell to live in.

I've often wondered about their choices, some of which look wildly inappropriate (ranging from bijou little shells like tiny helmets to whacking great appendages that drag on the ground and seem like a complete burden).

But it turns out it's not necessarily easy to find a new home, and they often have to just make do with whatever is around.



Hermits are not the only crabs that make for good watching. No matter what time you visit the beach, you'll catch them up to something -- diligently carrying big pincerfuls of sand from their burrows, and chucking it, with a very decided sideways motion, onto their sand pile; scuttling along, on their little twinkle-toes, like tiny ballerinas; lowering themselves, like deflating hovercraft, when they need to hunker down for a better grip of the earth; or submerging themselves in the mud when danger approaches.

And crab tracks are one of nature's new-every-tide little works of art:



Here's to crabs: