If you have never seen them before, the ghosts can be startling on the summer beach at night as they race across the illuminating beam from your flash light. After sunrise they are still there, but blend well with the beach and are often overlooked. If actively pursued though, they can move swiftly, changing directions instantly; and should these evasive actions not be enough; they can quickly disappear into a burrow already dug some where.

With a carapace of only two inches wide the ghost crab is well named and well adapted to its environment. Like other crabs with gills, the ghost must return to the sea to breathe, but they also have the ability to store enough oxygen in their bodies to spend most of their time on shore. Along with speed and amazing agility, ghost crabs have eyes on vertical stalks which allows for a 360 degree range of vision; also equipped with two strong claws the ghost crab is a formidable predator for an animal its size. On the beach and in the dunes of Cumberland Island they eat just about any type of small land or sea animal they can capture. However they are also scavengers and will feed on the decomposing bodies of larger animals. Ghost crabs are significant predators of baby sea turtles; they will often burrow into turtle nests and eat the eggs, but will also capture the hatchlings on the beach as they make their way from the nest to the sea. It’s not uncommon to see the remains of several baby turtles at the entrance to a ghost crab burrow. Of course there are larger predators about that will eat ghost crabs; sea gulls, raccoons and feral hogs will all make a meal of them. The crabs try to avoid these larger animals by digging burrows three to four feet deep. This works most of the time but a large hungry hog will dig them up and may excavate a huge hole in the process.

The beach on Cumberland Island attracts a lot of animals from both land and sea. This is a place where the life and death struggles of many species can be observed. During the warmer months the ghost crab is a major player in this drama. But as the weather turns cooler in the fall the ghost will disappear into its burrow where it becomes dormant for the winter. It doesn’t take long for wind blown sand to cover the entrance of a crab burrow and for at least half a year there are no signs of these animals at all. But when temperatures once again rise in the spring, the ghost will re-appear.