Spider Crab Expeditions

Spider Crabs reside in Port Philip Bay, Victoria, Australia for 12 months of the year.

However, in April through to July each year, as the water cools, the crabs gather in the shallows in their tens of thousands! This aggregation is continuously “on the move” and has been referred to as the “March of The Spider Crabs”.

This amazing natural phenomenon is believed to be linked to a mating ritual. Through out this time period the crabs gather and play “stacks on the middle”. The mountains of crabs can be up to 2 metres high and cover areas up to a kilometre long.

The Spider Crab march is an amazing visual experience and resembles scenes from a science fiction film. During this time the crabs moult their shells and in turn this attracts predators such as sting rays and even seals and sharks.

Marine Boy Productions have catered for some of the world’s leading wildlife photographers and film makers who have wanted to document this unique event. These have included the French film crew filming OCEANS. In 2011, MBP and Robert Torelli also hosted a Japanese film crew to film the Spider Crab migration where Robert co ordinate the trip, worked as an underwater camera man and on camera talent.

Other interesting marine life nearby include a host of animals such as Weedy Sea Dragons, Tasseled Angler fish, Warty Prow fish, Blue Ringed Octopus and Cowfish. The sheltered waters of Port Philip Bay offers amazing diving at this time of the year and no one knows this region better than the Marine Boy Production team of expert divers.

All expeditions are customised to clients needs

Please check out our gallery of images for the Spider Crab including recent moulting and stingray predation samples.