He Reveals A Hole In His Shell. Now Watch What The Smaller Crab Does…

On a tiny Caribbean island, there is a severe housing shortage — for hermit crabs. Hermit crabs use abandoned sea shells as mobile homes. As a crab grows, its shell becomes tighter, so it has to move into a bigger one. The problem is that perfect-fitting shells are hard to find.

You're about to see a short film about hermit crabs and their ever-important search for new shell-homes, from BBC’s Life Story, narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It's a rare, fascinating peek into hermit crabs’ "shell-swapping" behavior that was only first observed in 1986.

Crabs also looking to upgrade to new homes gather together to wait as new shells accumulate along the shore. The crabs size each other up, and arrange themselves into a queue — the biggest head to the front, while the smallest head to the back. This "Hermit Crab vacancy chain" is designed to exchange shells so that each crab gets their properly upgraded home! How amazing is this?! When the chain reaction begins, each crab leaves its shell and scurries for a new home before another can move in. It's imperative that no crab is left without a shell, as their naked bodies can cook underneath the hot sun.

Watch as the last hermit crab finds his home. It's not what he set out for, but it'll do for now.

Nature never ceases to amaze me. Please SHARE this incredible video with your friends on Facebook!

Crabs from John Brown on Vimeo.