
This is the spectacular moment millions of red crabs on a remote in the Indian Ocean began their migration to breed more of the fire-coloured creatures.

A sea of red moves on Christmas Island, 2,500km north-west of Perth, from the forests to the Indian Ocean where the crustaceans will mate.

IT specialist and amateur photographer Gary Tindale, 53, from Perth, captured the start of the migration two weeks ago and saw 'the crabs just pour out of the jungle and take over'.

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An estimated 120 million red crabs live on the 52 square mile island shared with just more than 2,000 residents

The incredible sight attracts thousands of islanders to see the phenomenon, which lasts several weeks as the 14 different species of crabs take over the island, which has a large areas of monsoonal forest.

'The speed with which everything on the island changes is incredible. On Tuesday (Nov 18) the weather started out fine and there was maybe one or two crabs around,' said Mr Tindale.

'In the afternoon, storms came through and that evening the red crabs were out in force. The island had evolved into a red carpet; a sea of red as the crabs started heading down to the Indian Ocean,' he said.

The crabs move in their crimson wave to and from their breeding ground and habitat, as the crabs gradually move down to the ocean to spawn.

'A few weeks later, the spawn return and a shimmering carpet of small tiny one inch crabs returns to the jungle,' Mr Tindale said.

An estimated 120 million red crabs live on the 52 square mile island shared with just more than 2,000 residents.

The bright display of natural wonder forces roads on the island to close, allowing the crabs to cross and bringing the island to a standstill.

'But the majority of areas are off limits for a few months for all vehicles,' said Mr Tindale.

'Where cars do travel, everyone is weaving around to avoid the crabs and sometimes it's probably quicker to walk,' he said.

'They bring many things on the island to a halt, whole swathes of the rain forest, tourist style areas, beaches and trails are closed.'

Christmas Island has a population of just over 2,000 residents, and since the 1980's has been used by the Australian government to process asylum seekers off shore.

The incredible sight attracts thousands of islanders to see the phenomenon, which lasts several weeks as the 14 different species of crabs take over the island

The bright display of natural wonder forces roads on the island to close, allowing the crabs to cross and bringing the island to a standstill

The crabs move in their crimson wave to and from their breeding ground and habitat, as the crabs gradually move down to the ocean to spawn

'The speed with which everything on the island changes is incredible,' said Mr Tindale

'A few weeks later, the spawn return and a shimmering carpet of small tiny one inch crabs returns to the jungle,' Mr Tindale said.

The Christmas Island red crab is native to Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean