On Ko Lanta (Near Phuket), I found myself with lots of time to kill, just lying on the beach and examining its inhabitants. In addition to the large array of random dogs (they are everywhere in Thailand), I considered myself lucky enough to spot over 10 hermit crabs in just 15 minutes. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd always considered hermit crabs to be a bit of a rarity - I'd only ever seen one hermit crab before this trip. I discovered that they range in size considerably, and could easily been found by the patient observer, just by watching the sand and waiting for the telltale signs of movement. I loved them. Start to track them even. Watching their movements, and trying to work out where they were going. I'd see 3 crabs heading up the beach, left to right, and then anther going the exact opposite way. It's not like ants, seeking each other out simply to communicate by way of antenna transactions - no - they just appeared to be randomly walking about. Still there were lots of them, so they must be doing something right...
But as I watched the beach closer, I noticed that it was the crabs who rule the roost. They are everywhere: large rock crabs, medium size sand crabs, and the perhaps the masters of crab race: the minute sand crab.
They built empires with amphitheaters, massive antennae even, and try to communicate to us via hieroglyphics. This is what I learned from the master crab race. To follow are some examples that demonstrate this:
The Amphitheatre
I'm guessing that the minute crabs must love their cultural events. How else do you explain what clearly looks like a sand scale amphitheatre? (Some of you will say wind, but I dismiss that hypothesis). Perhaps their civilisation is similar to that of Shakespearean English times, where the theatrical stage was the hub of communication, socialisation and education?
The Antenna
If you were the supreme beings of the beach world, wouldn't you want to communicate with the rest of the universe? A SETI program for crabs? Here is proof. They are building antennae that allows them to send sand signals, perhaps.
It amazes me that the nano-crab culture is advanced enough to support both high arts and futuristic science - true markers of an advanced society much like that of the human race. Maybe they want to communicate with us? If so what would be their language?
Hieroglyphics
From their performance spaces we know that the crabs are not afraid to learn from prior civilisations, so perhaps we should not be surprised that their chosen method of communication with humans references the ancient Egyptians? They were masters of the sandy environs in which they ruled...
Although try as I might, I've not been fortunate enough to decipher this one.
All submissions will be gratefully received.
