Rare Bermuda crabs wash up on English beach

Five crabs native to Bermuda have reportedly washed up on a beach in England.

According to the Mirror, a UK newspaper, five rare Columbus crabs were found on a Dorset Beach after a storm.

The article said conservationist Steve Trewhella spotted them on Chesil Beach, near Weymouth, while he was looking for injured sea birds.

He said they had clung to debris swept across the Atlantic.

Mr Trewhella rescued the crabs and they are now in an aquarium in his home.

In an interview with the Mirror, Mr Trewhella said this isn’t the first time he’s seen the small crabs.

 “Until this year the last time I saw them was in 2007 after Hurricane Katrina.

“They would have been swept over here due to the Atlantic swell and the big winds which are bringing a huge amount of debris over.

“These crabs are tiny and when you look at an atlas or a map of a world you realise just how far they have travelled, it’s incredible.”

The Columbus crabs are native to the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda and stay among seaweed on the surface instead of inhabiting the sea bed.

It is believed they were named after Christopher Columbus who is thought to have spotted the crustaceans during his first voyage to the New World in 1492.