Massive meat-eating coconut crabs are posing an unusual challenge for the team searching for Amelia Earhart’s missing plane on the remote Pacific island of Nikumaroro.
Purdue University confirmed on Monday that the crew would sleep aboard its vessel rather than on the island, citing the enormous crustaceans as one reason for the decision.
The 17-person expedition team arrived off Nikumaroro on Monday evening after a five-day voyage across the Pacific, going ashore the following morning to begin investigating clues that could help solve Earhart’s disappearance.
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“The crew will sleep nightly aboard the Marin Mainiku for a number of reasons, one of which is the presence of coconut crabs, whose size and overnight activity make staying on the island impractical,” the university said.
The team, which is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), has already encountered the massive crustaceans while working on the island.
In a Tuesday statement, Purdue University officials said researchers came across at least four coconut crabs while clearing an overgrown trail to the island’s lagoon.
The path, nicknamed the “Gallagher Highway,” had become heavily overgrown since the last expedition — forcing researchers and crew members to use machetes and hand chainsaws to clear a route.
The work took about two hours. Despite the crab encounters, the animals “posed no threat to the operation,” according to the university.
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The coconut crab is considered the largest terrestrial arthropod, according to a 2011 report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The crab digs shallow burrows for mating and molting and frequently maintains several burrows within its territory, the USGS report states.
“The species is omnivorous and will scavenge carcasses, climb trees to access food or escape, and can live [for] over 40 years,” added the USGS report.
Coconut crabs are also equipped with two powerful pincers capable of cracking through the tough exterior of a coconut, according to London’s Natural History Museum.
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The crustaceans’ claws have serrated edges that function like teeth, allowing them to break open the hard shells.
“The squeeze of a coconut crab’s pincers can be much stronger than a human’s grip,” the museum said.
Researchers testing 29 wild coconut crabs found that their pincers could generate more than 1,765 newtons of force.
“For comparison, humans have a maximum bite force of between 1,100 and 1,300 newtons,” the museum added.
One photo released by Purdue University shows expedition member Sirisha Bandla smiling as she holds a massive coconut crab, its long legs and claws extending outward.
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Expedition member Renato LaRocca, who had previously visited Nikumaroro, acknowledged the challenges posed by the island’s wildlife in an Oct. 9 university statement.
“There is a problem with coconut crabs and hermit crabs, but otherwise it’s a magical place,” he said.
Despite the challenges, Rick Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute and leader of the expedition, said the team remained in “excellent spirits.”
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“We continue to be well taken care of by our very capable Kiribati crew, and we are looking forward to the work ahead,” he added.
Purdue University told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the crabs have not caused any additional challenges for the crew.
The expedition is investigating a mysterious anomaly detected in satellite imagery that some researchers believe could be Earhart’s missing Lockheed Electra.
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The search is rooted in the Nikumaroro Hypothesis, which suggests Earhart’s aircraft went down near the remote Pacific island.
Earhart was just 39 years old when she disappeared on July 2, 1937, during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world.
The famed aviator as well as her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished during one of the final legs of their journey after taking off from Lae, New Guinea, en route to Howland Island.