We are just like that frog from the story who thought the well in which he lived is the only world out there. His imagination was limited to the diameter of that well that was filled with water, stones, and plants. Just like the frog we humans are stuck on one thing that whatever we see is the only reality and nothing else matters. But out there on this same planet on which 7.7 Billion people reside there is a world that is a hub of some most unknown creatures living on the same planet with us. This guy saw something moving, unaware of what it was he picked it up and was taken aback by its true identity. He even solved the only case that happened on this island in the year 1937.
Christmas Island might give a mental image of a beautiful place with mountains covered in snow, millions of stars twinkling in the night, and reindeers running in a group and who's that? Santa? Sorry to break your heart, this place located in the Indian Ocean is nothing like what you imagined but a place where lots of strange things exist even today. What did he find and how did he solve the mystery that revolved around Christmas Island? You'll see soon...
Spread in 135 square kilometers, Christmas Island shares its territory with Indonesia in the south and Australia in the northwest. Christmas Island is the top of a basalt volcano which grew steeply 5,000 meters from the sea level about 60 million years ago. The Murray Hill is the highest point of the island that rises to 361 meters above the ocean floor.
This out of reach island felt a human presence for the first time in 1887, when a small group of British explorers stepped on this island after crossing the dense jungle and accumulated rock specimens of nearly perfect phosphate of lime. In November 1888, owner of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, George Clunies-Ross, sent his brother Andrew and a small group of Cocos Malay workers to the island to establish a settlement at Flying Fish Cove. From there the mystery of this island has been baffling its visitors with something or the other just like this guy who found one the most amazing and astonishing thing ever found.
Mark Pierrot knows the surroundings of Christmas Island like really well. He has been coming to the same island for many years now. It is the mystical nature of the island that excited him the most. The island has been very influential in his life that keeps wandering the deep forests of this island. No one can say for sure what all this island has been hiding from this world even today. Fortunately, Mark solved the only mystery that was lurking around.
It's not every day that people are discovering the secrets of this island, but that day when Mark decided to explore the other area of the island that was always at the back of his mind he made this unfathomable discovery that changed his life forever. Mark stepped into an unknown world that managed to stay hidden from the outer world for many years but it was his destiny that made him look this side of the island.
It was in 1937 when a plane crashed on this island and the pilot was none other than the famous Amelia Earhart. People found the wreckage of the ship but the body of Amelia was never found even after a long search all over the island she was nowhere to be seen. The world was confused to see that how was it even possible? The plane was here but the pilot wasn't? What happened to her?
You might be wondering what is the connection between Amelia and the discovery Mike made on Christmas Island. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart has always made the investigators all over the world a little curious. And it was Mike who solved the mystery. He wouldn't have imagined that with one arrow he might hit two targets and both of them are unbelievable.
Amelia Mary Earhart was an American aviation explorer and author. She also became the first female aviator who flew solo across the Atlantic Ocean. For this incredible journey, she received the United States Distinguished Flying Cross. She even wrote best-selling books describing her aviation experience and was instrumental in the group called The Ninety-Nines (the organization formed by female pilots). The famed Amelia Earhart met an unfortunate event in 1937, more unfortunate was her disappearance that even scratch several heads. What actually happened on that island? What happened to Amelia?
As we told you before Mark knows Christmas Island really well. While exploring the land he stumbled upon a prehistoric resident that surprised him to the core. He has been on this island several times before but has never seen it before. What would you do if you see something strange lurking just right in front you? We might stop or run from there. But Mark didn't stop there and discovered the most amazing thing of which he even managed to click the picture with.
After this post went viral there were many who questioned its authenticity. People who these pictures couldn't believe that something like this could exist even today. There have been many incidents where people faked about discovering something and they even managed to upload the pictures but their authenticity couldn't be proved. But Mike wasn't lying and he did find something on Christmas Island.
After the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1975 was passed 63% of the area came under the National Park listings. With a home of 2,000 locals including Chinese, Malay, and Australia. The locals have always been very proud of this place where such diverse culture has been flourishing for years. But with these people, there were several other things that were walking on the same soil as them. Mark was lucky that he found this amazing thing and was able to solve the mystery behind Amelia disappearance.
Mark, the fearless Christmas Islander has been wandering on this land many times. Though he has seen some extraordinary things here, the thing which he saw this time was nothing compared to the things he has seen before in his lifetime. The discovery shocked the locals and helped many. Who could have thought that this thing was still living here?
If you look at the map of the world it would take you a while before you could locate the island. This tiny but mysterious is far more interesting than any other place. Even today, it doesn't stop baffling the people who visit it. During the WWII, on 31 March 1942, with the help of mutiny by Indian soldiers Japan was able to occupy the land from the British power.
The name Christmas Island might give you a very happy feeling. People thought of this place to be a must visit but when Mark made this discovery their views changed. It's more of a tropical paradise. With humans living in this have made it a place one can live with all the basic necessities available but still, the locals know the area from in and out. People like us might get lost in the area if visiting it alone. And beware if you stumble upon the same thing Mike did. He knew the land and in our case, we might faint.
After Mark spotted this mysterious unknown thing he didn't run away from it instead ran towards it. Unaware of the situation he picked it up, the world was astonished by it. Doesn't it feel great to watch fiction movies where it takes into a world we haven't imagined? Filled with amazing and unbelievable things we start believing that, yes, that place is there somewhere. Christmas Island is somewhat similar to that. Luckily, Mike was actually there to live the moment unlike us where we are reading about it now.
When Mike picked up that thing and posted it on social media, people couldn't believe what they were actually seeing. There were many who applauded his action saying, he was brave who was able to discover something this astonishing and brought it out in front of the world. There were others who criticized his decision of being careless and not caring about the only life he has. We don't know what to say but this discovery was necessary if you ask us.
Mike always had this habit of walking on an unbeaten path. This was the only reason he went to the other side of the island. Unlike other areas, this area was dense and unknown to him. Moving further into the woods he was alert because this area was new fro his mind and body. As you all know what all a person could find in the woods if one is not aware of the surroundings. Now, what's that? Mike thought.
Mike saw a bush that was shaking because of something that was moving away from Mike. Before he could act that thing was out from the bush. He made sure not to touch it but then something made him do it. Without being aware of what that was, he picked it up in his hands. It was heavy and huge. But what it was that Mike picked. Did he knew what it was and that's why didn't get afraid of it?
Mike picked up this prehistoric creature which is called "Coconut Crab". It was huge in size, unlike other crabs which aren't that big. Mike knew that he has found something extraordinary. Even he was unaware of it but still, he was excited to find this mind-boggling creature on the same very land which has visited so many times in his life.
This mysterious creature Mark discovered was the coconut crab. Falling in the same line of the crab family, this species is very different from other crab species. It is the cousin of the water-based hermit crab. Unlike Hermit crab who lives most of life in water, the coconut crab spends all his life on the land. The coconut crab can grow up to 3-feet wide and weighs around 10 pounds. But they aren't as sweet as Mike made them look and don't forget Amelia Earhart.
We told you about the pilot Amelia Earhart who suddenly disappeared from the face of Earth in 1937 after her plane crashed on this island. You'll see how these coconut crabs and Amelia are related to each other. But before that let's know more about this strange coconut crab which managed to amaze the world. When this story went viral all anybody could talk about was this.
The coconut crab is very huge in size and weight. But their size and weight is not the only thing they can brag about because these crustaceans can live over 120 years. Considering that you could imagine the age of that huge creature Mark picked up as if it was nothing. No one knows for how many years this crab has been living on Christmas Island.
You'll be surprised to know that coconut crabs can also climb trees. So, if you think on land you would be able to run them out then you are certainly wrong. But thankfully, if you run towards the water you'll be safe, unlike other crabs, these coconut crabs cannot swim and would drown for sure if left in the waters for long. But that's not all they have some amazing talents that only these crabs are able to do.
Though they are huge in size and weight and live a long life, they do have some amazing capabilities that you could compare to the littlest creatures. Just like tiny insects, coconut crabs are born with antennas and a strong sense of smell. They use these abilities to look for potential meals. Being huge in size requires lots of brainpower while managing these abilities. But there is more...
Smaller crabs are already frightening enough, what is more, frightening is that these gigantic coconut crabs are spread all over the place. Even so, Mark says that these coconut crabs are actually very gentle when you get to know about them. Even the locals of Christmas Island don't consider much of a threat as other animals found on this island. Did you know coconut crabs are able to lift up to 62 pounds with their claws?
With such super strength, they are able to do some other things. For instance, when they want to eat a coconut (food preference that gave them the name coconut crab), they use their powerful claws to crack them open. With the ability to climb the trees they can easily reach up to the top of the coconut tree where they can find their favorite food.
“They use their claws to pull away the outer fibers, this can sometimes take many days and it often involves a number of crabs. They then use their longest walking leg to puncture a hole through the eyes of the coconut and then they can use their claws to pry open the shell further.” said ecologist Michelle Drew.
It is believed that Amelia Earhart crashed her plane on the island of Nikumaroro. They found her plane but her body wasn't discovered on the site of the accident. People believe that coconut crabs carried off her body and eventually consumed it. Didn't we just say above that these crabs are no harm to humans but then how did they reach on the conclusion of these crabs consuming Amelia? They did a little experiment.
To see if the coconut crab theory was even true, a group of researchers decided to see how these crabs responded to the smell and scent of a pig remains. To their surprise, within a few days, these crabs ate all its flesh. After this experiment, the researchers were sure that these coconut crabs had something to do with Amelia's disappearance.
Coconut crabs are also known as the largest arthropod in the world. Just like other crabs, when these crabs grow old they tend to shed their exoskeletons. Shredding their exoskeletons is a yearly activity. But there is something scary other than this activity that somehow makes them little scary at times. Even they are gentle by nature but after Amelia's case, we can't say that for sure even it was the only case where human was involved.
This strange process where coconut crab leaves it old exoskeleton behind, the crab is left behind much more vulnerable to get attacked by other animals. Do save themselves, they eat their old shell to increase the process to get the new shell as soon as possible. “[Coconut crabs] that are disturbed before they have consumed the entire shell often have soft exoskeletons until they have time to re-accumulate the necessary calcium and other minerals,” Michelle said of the molting process.
While there have been no other cases except humans, but these crabs are found to be aggressive towards young chickens, dogs, and even kittens. According to the locals, who don't mind these carbs and consider them really special.
Other than the coconut crabs, this species is also called as the robber crabs. Why robber crabs? “The reason they’re called robber crabs is because they steal everything,” said Linda Cash marketing manager of Christmas Island. Further added, “If you leave something lying around, you can be pretty sure that a robber crab will take it away.”
Mike Pierrot who grew up on this amazing Christmas Island says, “I can see how people would find them creepy, but they are pretty timid creatures and it’s funny how much people are freaked out by them, I think this is a pastime lots of locals have had,” he said of posing with them, “and I’ve handled them before so wasn’t worried at all.”
The tourism association of Christmas Island has informed the people that they consider these coconut crabs a very special creature of their own land and tries their best to protect them. "One of the reasons Christmas Island has the largest robber crab population remaining on the planet is because our crabs are protected," said tourism association.
After Mike posted this image with the one coconut crab in his hands, the association cleared the doubt of Mike hurting the crab saying, "This crab was not captured for food, it was for a picture only - it is illegal to eat coconut crabs on Christmas Island and is a $5,500 (£2,700) fine for doing so - we protect our crabs, we do not eat them." Good to see that people are taking care of this amazing species.