Going Crabbing

I recently celebrated my tenth birthday. When told I could choose out of a group of activities, I chose crabbing at the local beach and marina.

First stop was to the store to buy a crab net. Next stop was the docks. I had never gone crabbing before and once we got going, I found it to be quite an adventure!

When we got to the end of the dock, my dad and I jumped onto a floating dock which was closer to the water level and we filled a bucket with water. Then when I saw the first crab, my mom took the net and showed me how to catch it.

After the first few crabs, I got the gist of it…when you find a crab, you scoop it up as fast as you can and then you put it in the bucket with the water. Although many of the smaller crabs we caught slipped through the big holes in our net, my sister and I managed to put 6 crabs in our bucket (one of them had only a single claw). When my parents asked if we wanted to carefully pick them up, I passed on the honor, but my mom picked one up and…it snipped at her finger. She got a little cut and bled a bit, but luckily she was okay.

It is interesting that while in the bucket, most of the crabs weren’t very active. They just folded their claws under their shells, sat down, and waited.

Before we threw the crabs back into the water, my mom picked up another one (more carefully this time!) and started telling us about their movable and retractable eyes, my dad then added that crabs are good sprinters and can easily outrun people. When my sister said that that was impossible, my dad grabbed the crab from my mom's hand and started chasing us around with it (he's such a charmer!). When we finally released them back into the water, I think I was even more relieved than they were.

Crabbing is fun!