Newport Beach surfer Amanda Taylor went down to check out the waves Friday morning and was greeted by red crabs blanketing the sand.

“They’re the trippiest things you’ve ever seen,” she said. “They were all alive.”

Lifeguards estimated there were hundreds of thousands of them washed up on shore from the Newport Beach pier south to the Balboa Pier. In Laguna Beach, areas such as Shaw’s Cove were covered in the tiny critters, and some were washed up at Main Beach.

On Wednesday, a smaller amount – about 1,000 – washed up in Huntington Beach. And the previous week, a handful washed up in Seal Beach.

Newport Beach lifeguard Capt. Boyd Mickley said they washed up Friday at high tide early morning.

“We have a band of them right by our (lifeguard) building down to Balboa,” he said. “Yesterday, we didn’t have any. They are here today – with the next high tide they could be gone.”

Mickley estimated the red crabs that washed up made a 6-foot-wide ring along the water in some areas. “I can see a quarter-mile down, they are that far away,” he said.

The tiny crabs were also spotted at Bolsa Chica.

The Pleuroncodes planipes, also known as pelagic red crabs or tuna crabs, look like tiny lobsters or crawfish and are about 1 to 3 inches long. They are usually found off Baja, but because of El Niño conditions with currents pushing in from the south, the crabs have washed up in recent years along the Orange County coastline. Before then, the crabs hadn’t been seen in the area for decades.

Last year, when millions showed up at areas like Balboa Island and China Cove, maintenance workers took up the task of shoveling them up and hauling them off to the dump.

But Newport’s beach cleaner only works on dry sand, and these little crustaceans are on wet sand.

“They’ll probably just leave them to be eaten by the birds or taken out by the tide,” Mickley said.

Mickley said he hadn’t had calls from other areas in Newport reporting the crabs. Lifeguards said there were no sightings in others areas, such as Dana Point.

In Laguna Beach, there were “quite a few,” said Marine Safety Lt. Kai Bond. “I’ve heard reports Shaw’s Cove is covered,” he said.

Laguna Beach is within the Marine Life Protected Act, so the crabs can’t be taken.

“Where they lie is where they must stay,” Bond said. “We have to let Mother Nature take them away.”

That means if the tide doesn’t take them away, it could make for funky conditions at the beach this weekend. When they die, they leave behind a strong stench.

Surfers John Layman and Wayne Sterner paddled out south of the pier in Newport Beach Friday morning and had to navigate around the red crabs.

“When you’re walking out to surf, they are so thick. You have to tip-toe through them,” Layman said. “They were scurrying away.”

Layman said he’s been surfing Newport since 1972, and this is only the second time he’s seen them wash up.

“When you take off on a wave, you could hear them clicking on the bottom of your board,” Layman said. “They were all over the place. They swim backwards, they look really funny when they swim. It’s not a big deal, it’s just interesting when it happens.”