The Sands of Death (or I Got Crabs in a Bad Way)

I went to the beach today and all along the water line were thousands of dead crabs! I've never seen this before. I wonder why? Bacterial infection? Water temperature issues? Too much sunshine this time of year? Pollution? I have no idea. It's disturbing.

But I found two really cool shells to add to my orange shell collection.

 

UPDATE: I just read an article that explains the deaths are due to global warming and the development of oxygen dead-zones at the bottom of the ocean. How sad. You can read about that HERE. There are several articles on this phenomenon happening around the world with tens of thousands of dead bodies on beaches. Scary.

 

UPDATE: A friend just emailed me and told me the crabs are MOLTING. Not dead, just leaving behind their "old clothes" I guess. Females molt in the spring and although it's really still winter with all this sunshine they must be confused. It makes me want to go back and have a second look.