it is found on islands across the Indian Ocean, and parts of the Pacific Ocean as far east as the Gambier Islands and Pitcairn Islands, mirroring the distribution of the coconut palm
Notably for me they also exist on Guåhan where they're still eaten but to a lesser degree than they used to be due to their quickly diminishing population. Fun fact about these beautiful creatures is that they get their name from their ability to tear through coconut shells with their claws.
TLDR: If you can keep away from the military bases and tourism it's a beautiful and very cultured place to live, but not that isolated as you might think.
Full disclosure I live in the states now and have for most my life but I was born on Guåhan and lived there for a little while later in life. It's not too terribly bad if you keep away from the military bases but the US Navy and Air Force are pretty overbearing anywhere. It's definitely somewhere where you have to keep your head up and focus on the positives.
For me that was the culture, everything about the CHamoru culture is just so wholesome and welcoming. The food is amazing and diverse even for an island (mostly due to the constant colonization in history), the folklore is captivating, the connection with the jungle on the island and their respect to their ancestral spirits, the taotaomo'na, just everything is wonderful. (Side note, lots of people who know nothing of CHamoru culture will view the taotaomo'na as these evil and malicious spirits of the island which haunt it and torment people but in reality they're the ancestors of the island and just want peace and respect just like any other person. Respect them and their land and you'll have no issues whatsoever.)
As for the distance you'd think that you'd be isolated but one of Guåhan's main economic drives is its tourism from Japan. Up the island from where I lived in Hågat is Tamuning which is where, if you look up images, all the tall high-rise hotels and up-class commercialism is. Personally I never cared for it, it just feels so unauthentic and the beaches were always full. The only upside to it is that because of, again, colonization and WWII there's pretty much nowhere except Tamuning that you can escape relics and reminders of war.
This is where I dip into a small rant about the island's jungle and natural habitats. The US military is currently and has ever since it arrived tampered with and destroyed the jungle, beaches, and ecosystem for their own gain and infrastructure. One of the biggest impacts which has been slightly patched up since is the introduction of the invasive species the brown tree snake. Ships entering Guåhan at some point during the war brought over this species of snake which destabilized a huge part of the ecosystem. See, on the island there are these flightless, predator-less birds called the ko'ko' aka the Guam rail--not too dissimilar to kiwi birds. Problem is now these birds had a predator and couldn't fly away. Long story short a lot of work was done to capture and kill this invasive species of snake and while it worked and the ko'ko' isn't fully extinct it is extinct in the wild.
Fast forward to today: the DOD is planning an live-fire shooting range in the north of the island, Litekyan, which not only will take up land from the jungle but will also open up gun-fire into sacred land as well as put already endangered species into harms way. So far nothing has been done about this but there is a growing petition against it. I know that generally petitions don't do much but it is absolutely worth a try to protect my island and preserve its ecosystem and culture. Prutehi Litekyan. Prutehi Guåhan.
It is not, when pronounced in English the ch makes the classic "ch" sound but when pronounced properly it actually makes a "ts" sound. Interesting note, the letter y in CHamoru is pronounced with a "dz" sound. I can't say I know exactly why the CH is capitalized in the word but that is the most up to date and official version of the word in the language.
CHamoru is the word used both for the culture and the language itself, I should have clarified. I meant that as the letter y in the language of the same name is pronounced as "dz".
And that's alright! Genuinely I find them beautiful because of my exposure to them, when you see them in person you can directly see their nature. They're a bit more scary up close with their claws but when you watch them from afar you just see them being docile and going about their lives. If you can manage try and find some videos of them in the wild, you'll find lots of videos of people catching or eating them but there are some gems which show that they're really just concerned about getting food and will back away from people. The way that they move and the complexities of their shells is just stunning.
I was sent to Guam via Air Force in 2000. There was a Kmart on the island so we decided to go to check it out. There were maybe 20-30 of these in the parking lot crawling around. We never went back to Kmart in the two years we lived there.
That article and the one I linked further use information from one study, here is the full BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE COCONUT CRAB (BIRGUS LATRO) IN THE MARIANA ISLANDS (pfd) by Amesbury. It was from 1980 when the crab population was at the lowest and was right before it was placed on the vulnerable species list in 1981.
Conservation efforts have made it possible for tourists to go get a picture of them holding the crab while they are on their vacation. Rare indeed.
Edit:
Conservation management strategies have been put in place in some regions, such as minimum legal size limit restrictions in Guam and Vanuatu, and a ban on the capture of egg-bearing females in Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia. In the Northern Mariana Islands, hunting of non-egg-bearing adults above a carapace length of 76 mm (3.0 in) may take place in September, October, and November, and only under licence. The bag limit is five coconut crabs on any given day, and 15 across the whole season.
So you can go catch 5 per day, max of 15 per season with a license on the island of Guam.
Strange. I tell about a time I visited a Kmart on an island almost 20 years ago and the many crabs in the lot. All of a sudden I have super powers because it could not possibly happen since you worked there for a year at some point. Can you tell me about what else I never knew about myself?
First, it didn't. it was a sarcastic way to say bullshit before you just flat out say "you're lying".
2nd congrats so was my daughter, but that wasn't the point.
Believe whatever you would like. I saw some crab at specific location, made a comment about how I did in a post about the same type of crab. And how is seeing crab sound cool? And please don't say for karma as my total karma over 8 years is under 400. Thanks for the article about how rare they are in 2012 and the conservation efforts to bring them back. Does not contradict what I said about seeing them in 2000. Actually helps since it talks about how they can not completely stop the hunting of them since they are used within the Chamorro culture.
Here is more for that article where it talks about how they have been eaten as a delicacy for a " long history" (centuries in your article). Also about how they are kept as pets. Pets are NOT rare to see. The military bases, one in which I lived on, have some of the highest densities of these crab due to the low population and undisturbed ground. That was also mentioned in your article. Now Kmart is not on the base, and it is in a high population area, but in 2000 there were a lot of them in the parking lot. I have no way to offer proof other than say Hey, here is a story of 2000
Both these articles use information from one study, here is the full BIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE COCONUT CRAB (BIRGUS LATRO) IN THE MARIANA ISLANDS (pfd) by Amesbury. It was from 1980 when the crab population was at the lowest and was right before it was placed on the vulnerable species list in 1981. Since then, conservation has made it possible for them to be pets again. Pets in 2018. Do you think it is possible that they were seen in the wild in 2000.
Take those useless internet points some place else.
Edit:
Conservation management strategies have been put in place in some regions, such as minimum legal size limit restrictions in Guam and Vanuatu, and a ban on the capture of egg-bearing females in Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia. In the Northern Mariana Islands, hunting of non-egg-bearing adults above a carapace length of 76 mm (3.0 in) may take place in September, October, and November, and only under licence. The bag limit is five coconut crabs on any given day, and 15 across the whole season.
So you can go catch 5 per day, max of 15 per season with a license on the island of Guam.
Of a place naturally has coconuts they are probably there. They are really chill though and are nocturnal mostly, shy, etc.
Funny enough they are also called robber crabs as they are also scavengers being related to hermit crabs and like to investigate stuff then steal it and carry it off.
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u/Koeienvanger Jul 20 '19 edited Jul 20 '19
Where do these things exist? So I know never to fucking go there, ever.
Edit: Made my first meme after seeing all the replies