Spider crabs terrify Blue Planet II viewers
Everyone needs to take a deep breath after that mountain of crabs crawled across screens last night in the BBC1 David Attenborough nature documentary

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We’ve had the giant carnivorous Bobbit worm burrowing its way into nightmares across the nation and now spider crabs are haunting the Blue Planet II audience. That’s right: SPIDER crabs.
Episode four saw hundreds of thousands of the beasts emerge from the depths of the ocean to moult their exoskeletons in 100 metre long crowds.
“They’re not seeking mates, neither are they laying eggs. They have come here in order to grow,” explained narrator David Attenborough. “Like all crabs, their bodies are encased in a hard unexpandable shell, so to grow they have to break out of it.”
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Thousands of spider crabs gather under the sea for one crucial reason. ????#BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/DOSGI2nKKz
— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) November 24, 2017
Viewers found the sequence seriously creepy…
Spiders creep me out. And now so do spider crabs ???? #BluePlanet2
— michael. ????️???? (@MichaelM238) November 26, 2017
Mountains of spider crabs are now going to fill my nightmares. #BluePlanet #BluePlanet2
— Will Parry (@WillParry5) November 26, 2017
A mountain of crabs #BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/FibSoRaSRr
— Derek Faye (@Derek_Faye) November 26, 2017
And now nobody’s going near the sea again.
Me at the beach after seeing Spider Crabs on #BluePlanet2 @BBC pic.twitter.com/OAmFjTJ3ri
— Jamey Jackson (@JameyJackson) November 27, 2017
Spider Crabs = Never going in the sea again. #BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/PmByMtm4TN
— OhMyDosh! (@ohmydoshUK) November 26, 2017
Never ever swimming sever again with those spider crabs out there #BluePlanet2
— mads (@mads93p) November 27, 2017
Did anyone else have nightmares last night about Spider Crabs?!?! Remind me not to go in the sea next time I'm on holiday – do you think they have them in Blackpool?! #BluePlanet2 pic.twitter.com/QJvqW5xJGb
— Jonathan Holling (@jonhollingfm) November 27, 2017
However, some couldn’t help wonder if there was more to the creatures than met the eye…
I think spider crabs join octopuses in the 'secretly complex aliens biding their time under the sea' dimension ???????? #BluePlanet2
— Rachel (@OpenMindMH) November 26, 2017
"These spider crabs were once ordinary crabs, but then they were bitten by radioactive spiders. Now they use their powers to fight sea crime." #BluePlanet2
— Tom Freeman (@SnoozeInBrief) November 26, 2017
SPIDER CRABS,
SPIDER CRABS,
MARCHES SO MUCH, THEY HAVE NO FLAB,
SPINDLEY LEGS,
UGLY FACE,
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS ALL OVER THE PLACE,
LOOK OUT, HERE COMES THE SPIDER-CRAB #BluePlanet2— Paul Mitchell (@mrmitchell78) November 26, 2017
If for some reason you think you can stomach another look at that mountain of crabs, you can find out how the Blue Planet II crew filmed the epic scene here.
Blue Planet II continues 8pm Sunday night, BBC1