Lack of oxygen in water cause of blue crabs washing up on beaches

More and more videos are surfacing all over the internet showing blue crabs in Southwest Florida washing ashore dead.

Timothy Thompson posted a video to Facebook showing something he’s never seen in his 31 years in Naples.

“You see dozens and dozens of them in the shallows that’s just not normal and then you see him coming up on shore and eventually they don’t go back in the water,” said Thompson.

Florida Gulf Coast University researcher Doctor Mike Parsons says the crabs are fleeing in mass from water where they have no oxygen to breathe.

“It’s alarming and concerning where we are seeing blue crabs are seeing calico crabs were seeing leopard crabs some small swimming crabs,” said Dr. Parsons.

FGCU measured a dead zone with no oxygen for at least 600 square feet large, meaning the crabs can’t just swim away.

“Some of them are even clinging onto the dead fish,” said Dr. Parsons.