Christmas Island's annual red crab migration draws visitors from around the world, but it's not just tourists who are mesmerised by the natural phenomenon.
Residents on the island, 1,500 kilometres off the Western Australian coast, look forward to the yearly spectacle and many take to the streets to protect the crabs from danger.
Twelve-year-old Mitchell McKnight said he often spent hours moving the crabs out of harm's way.
"The longest I've done was from 6:30am to 11:00am.
"This year it was a much bigger population [of crabs] so we've had to do a lot more work with the crabs, everyone had to be a lot more careful."
Ashleigh Collis, who is also 12, said the crab migration was an exciting time for residents on the island.
"You could rake for hours and hours on end and it still wouldn't be enough."
During the annual migration, millions of large red crabs journey from the forest to the ocean to breed.
While the adult crabs have already finished their round trip, locals are expecting the babies to start making their way back to the forest in the next week.
Christmas Island Tourism Association chair Lisa Preston said while rakes were effective to protect adult crabs, different tools had to be used to protect the babies.
"The National Park have actually got leaf blowers," she said.
"It's not 100 per cent foolproof, but it definitely knocks down a lot of the mortality that would otherwise take place if you're allowed to just drive through the crabs."
Roads are regularly closed during crab migration and residents on the island are used to adjusting their lives to fit in with the crabs.
Some have even modified vehicles to avoid crushing them.
Crabs in computers, drains and salad bowls
Ms Preston said baby crabs were often found in peculiar places during their journey back to the forest.
"I remember an IT guy up on the island was replacing the hard drive in my computer and when he pulled the back off the computer there were about seven or eight dead baby crabs in here," she said.
"And you get that random mixing bowl or salad bowl at the back that you might use once in a blue moon and when you pull that out there could be four or five baby crabs in there."
Christmas Island District High School deputy principal Amy Luetich said the crabs often cut across the school oval.
"Occasionally you get them coming into the classroom, so you just have to 'shoo' them into a bin so you can release it outside.
"The crabs can freely walk through the grounds and the kids are always very careful not to hurt them."
Crab cadets teach students about conservation
Caring for the crabs is part of everyday life for many island-dwellers, and in 2022 the school will introduce a new program to teach students about conservation, sustainability, tourism and rehabilitation.
Ms Luetich said the Christmas Island Crab Cadets and Junior Ranger program would be centred around hands-on, field-based learning.
"It's going to be broader than just the crabs," she said.
The program is a three-way initiative between The Parks Trust, the Christmas Island National Park and Christmas Island District High School.
"We're actually developing the senior school part of the program to be an endorsed program that's recognised as part of their WA Certificate of Education," Ms Luetich said.
"We're really looking to build students' skills so, if they choose to, they can stay on the island and gain employment with agencies on the island and have employable skills upon leaving high school."
