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Reply	Anonymous says: The small balls of sand are caused by sand crabs. When they dig their holes in the wet sand they can't just fling the sticky sand out, so they roll it out one ball at a time. When I was younger, this process provided hours of entertainment on the beaches of Thailand.  (no votes) Tags: transport, planet earth.
	posted on 2008-02-13 21:06:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Rossi says: The sand crabs are filtering the sand for food. They can work the entire beach in a surprisingly short time - they are constrained by the time it takes for the sand to dry out - dry sand is no good for them - and the next tide.  (no votes) Tags: transport, planet earth.
	posted on 2008-02-15 01:48:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Steve Copley says: The above posts are absolutely correct. During the five years my wife and I lived in Seychelles, we witnessed crabs digging their holes just about every time we sat on the beach. They were determinedly single-minded about the process, disappearing down the hole and reappearing a few seconds later with claw-fuls of sand. Some would dispose of the sand in a single, large pile, whilst others would scatter the sand in a fan-shaped pattern as shown in your picture. The only way we found of distracting the crabs from their task was to flick tasty snacks their way, such as bits of crisp or sandwich filling - no crab can resist the draw of food!  (no votes) Tags: transport, planet earth.
	posted on 2008-02-15 05:52:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Lloyd says: These are sand crabs, and a different species, with a different pattern of sand balls, occurs in Australia, where I saw them last summer. These balls are not from their burrows, however. They glean nutrient materials (algae, bacteria and other detritus) from the surface layer of sand, the one that gets the most sunlight, and then roll up the sand they have removed food from so they won't mistakenly go through it again. You didn't see them only because you weren't patient enough. If you had stood there for a few moments, without moving, they would have emerged from their burrows again. I have photos of the crabs and some quite attractive photos of the patterns made along coasts fronting the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. I'd be happy to share these photos with anyone interested in seeing them.  (no votes) Tags: transport, planet earth.
	posted on 2008-02-23 03:51:00 | Report abuse

Reply	Lloyd says: Here's my email address  (no votes) Tags: transport, planet earth.
	posted on 2008-02-23 03:55:00 | Report abuse

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