It's actually processing food from grains of sand. The sand is wet with seawater which contains microscopic life like algae and plankton. The crab is cleaning that off & eating it, then it sets the sand it has already cleaned aside as little pellets.
The crab is grabbing a scoop and kind of rolling it around in its mouth. It wants to cover as much area as it can with minimal work. Spheres have the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio, and thus the highest volume-covoered-to-energy-invested ratio.
Of course it's intentional. It's the exact amount it can hold in its little gullet while scouring them, and it happens to be the shape they end up in so there's no reason to smash them, mold them into cubes or further process them in any way. It also helps to know what has & hasn't been processed. "Inbox/ Outbox:" if it's not a ball, it hasn't been processed.
Ah, I see I wasn't very clear, I meant the placement of the pellets, not the pellets themselves. The little balls make sense to me, but there's some kind of "clear" line/circle inbetween the pellets, not unlike the way some birds use flowers or fish use shells to attract a mate, I was wondering if something like that applies to this as well
My best guess would be, not unless they're using tiny crab drones to fly above them and shoot video. I mean, think about what the world looks like from the perspective of an eye level that's only 8mm above the surface of the sand.
septembergirl
He's making art!
guitarfourtysix
Waaaaaaaaaaaagh
That's called eating
Gin2ki
It's making a scale model of Burning Man :P
WhatUpDog3000
Time to make the donuts...
feren
Paging @OnlyCrabs
OnlyCrabs
jridley
It's making a map of the Burning Man camp.
justherefortheconfession
@onlycrabs
OnlyCrabs
3rdoption
Preparing for battle. Sandball fights among these guys are brutal.
Odincdaj522004
"ᴵ'ᵐᵃ ˢʰᵒʷ ʸᵒᵘ, ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ. ᴵ'ᵐᵃ ˢʰᵒʷ ʸᵒᵘ..."
beerlady
Fuck that guy steve, anyway
DoomFather
PigsWeGetWhatPigsDeserve
Kinda looks like the camp grounds at burning man.
FelonyFerret
That's how they eat.
nothingtolurkhere
Looks like a mini Burning Man from above.
elvisdumbledore
where i'm from a crab ball usually has shimp, corn, potatoes, can sausage too.
vurcease
If the camera angle were just right you'd see the chocolate surprise he's wrapping in them. Because he loves you and he's doing his best.
gilarelli
Hmmm crunchy chocolate
DontDoWhatDonaldDontDoes
Burning man for crab people
UncleToot
Chubs1646
Santo and johnny - and i love her...https://open.spotify.com/track/5JtWUJ45BRxGP6F4Tnoej4?si=pAI2wnu-RK-qebuu99bq9w
TheLovelessHummingbird
Oh I should have know Harrison didn't make it. Thanks!
GreenFox
Is this coachella?
Tahroo
This is like Wall-E if he was a crab...
woozle
is there a crabologist who can explain this?
saintdexter
https://youtu.be/XP8BUWr4AT4?si=0gUjBe8ocx0MkmRi
BackToTheOriginalUsername
/gallery/ea4VWpb/comment/2418185979
woozle
Cyberball2073
justherefortheconfession
Crab OCD
SquidBaitBadgerDroid
This is what burning man looks like from space
LitchLitch
This is the "guy" that plans the layout there
SquidBaitBadgerDroid
It’s not far off from reality
isetprettygirlsonfire
My thoughts too
SacrificialClam
It ain't much, but it's honest work
jAppMonster
Wall e before
Iggythemushroom
This is how levels in centipede get set up. It was a crab game all along.
gooslinger
Crab puffs
BladeTurMoiL
Plankton, the rice pilaf of crabs.
saintdexter
https://youtu.be/XP8BUWr4AT4?si=0gUjBe8ocx0MkmRi
Zapathasura
Sand bubbler crab. They feed on plankton in the sand by filtering it through their mouthparts discarding the processed sand as little pellets.
sircowdog
Bro....given the number of tiny pellets....how? How did that little guy eat so much!?
HaikuSorrow
They aren't eating that much, just filtering.
C141Clay
aguacatedeldiablo
It's crazy that, as tiny as this guy is, he's just out there eating even tinier things.
lookimcanadian
I saw this on Octonauts...tee hee hee hee
rhixhikaru
Love Octonauts.
DesdemonaMoor
Thought maybe this was the "Holes" crab version.
ucandcantunc
Thank you for the random knowledge ....
Zapathasura
Glad to be of service.
GravyEducation
Forbidden cereal
badspud42
Crabby Patties.
GravyEducation
Aaaahguhguhguhguh! Me secret formula
theskepticinme
But I wanted to believe it was just for fun. Or it was making party favors for a crab rave later
Predacane35
Disco treats
Zapathasura
It could still be that. Also. You can't rave on an empty stomach..
theskepticinme
I defer to your expertise on that
spontaneous9
It's actually processing food from grains of sand. The sand is wet with seawater which contains microscopic life like algae and plankton. The crab is cleaning that off & eating it, then it sets the sand it has already cleaned aside as little pellets.
SmilinSloth
Are these the same ones that make huts with the pellets under water? Or am I thinking of something else
Koetjeboe
The shape of the pellets kind of looks intentional, more so than the one on the left. Do you know if there's a reason for that?
J4nein4ne
The crab is grabbing a scoop and kind of rolling it around in its mouth. It wants to cover as much area as it can with minimal work. Spheres have the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio, and thus the highest volume-covoered-to-energy-invested ratio.
cosonfused
he tried pyramid shapes first but the British crabs kept stealing them.
BarbariansSuckAtImgur
Brilliant!
spontaneous9
Of course it's intentional. It's the exact amount it can hold in its little gullet while scouring them, and it happens to be the shape they end up in so there's no reason to smash them, mold them into cubes or further process them in any way. It also helps to know what has & hasn't been processed. "Inbox/ Outbox:" if it's not a ball, it hasn't been processed.
Koetjeboe
Ah, I see I wasn't very clear, I meant the placement of the pellets, not the pellets themselves. The little balls make sense to me, but there's some kind of "clear" line/circle inbetween the pellets, not unlike the way some birds use flowers or fish use shells to attract a mate, I was wondering if something like that applies to this as well
SilverNightwing
If I had to guess I'd say that's a side effect of how a crab walks sideways. They're just conveniently moving in a circle like that as they go
spontaneous9
My best guess would be, not unless they're using tiny crab drones to fly above them and shoot video. I mean, think about what the world looks like from the perspective of an eye level that's only 8mm above the surface of the sand.