Droves of Tuna Crabs Crawl Ashore in Imperial Beach

IMPERIAL BEACH, CA: Theeey'reee baaack! El Nino may not have brought as much rain as San Diegans would have hoped, but it brought thousands of tuna crabs, which washed ashore overnight Wednesday in Imperial Beach, just as they did last year in mid-June.

The little red crabs — known as pelagic red, or tuna crabs — are typically found south of San Diego but were lured further north by the warmer El Nino waters.

As the spectacle drew hundreds to the region's southernmost beach city Wednesday, Imperial Beach lifeguards had this to say in a Facebook post:

Alexander Nguyen, a Patch editor for several Los Angeles County communities, captured photos of the crustaceans Wednesday afternoon near the Imperial Beach Pier, after high tide had presumably washed many of them away.

Still, he said, "they were up and down the beach."

In 2015, tuna crabs also appeared in droves on the shores of Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla.

"They are just washing up," San Diego lifeguard Lt. James Gartland told Patch at the time. "It’s kind of a normal activity, we see it every once in a while. ... They tend to swarm; they follow currents and warm water."