Coconut crabs are remarkable climbers. They use their strong, hooked legs to scale coconut palms sometimes ten metres high, then drop the coconuts to the ground. They can smell a ripe coconut from a long distance, which makes them one of nature's best food-finders. Their claws — called chelipeds — can exert more crushing force than almost any other creature of their size.
Young coconut crabs spend their first weeks in the ocean, tiny and soft, drifting with the currents. As they grow, they move onto land and find an empty shell to protect their soft abdomen, just like hermit crabs. When they get big enough, they no longer need a shell — their own exoskeleton hardens and turns a striking purple-blue colour.
On Tuvalu's small islands, coconut crabs are part of the ecosystem — they help recycle nutrients by eating fallen coconuts, leaves, and other material. They are nocturnal, which means they come out mainly at night, so the best time to spot one is after dark with a torch. They can live for more than 40 years.