ARMCHAIR travellers around the world can soon experience Christmas Island without a trip to the airport, thanks to technology.
Google Street View has ventured to the remote island to join 45 million of its famous, endemic red crabs and broadcast their annual migration to the ocean.
Alasdair Grigg, on behalf of Parks Australia, is carrying the Google Street View Trekker collecting imagery of this amazing migration and destination.
"Christmas Island is not on the radar of most travellers," Dr Grigg said.
"We hope people can get a taste of the magnificent nature and the red crab migration through the eyes of the Google Trekker. We also hope they are inspired to appreciate the world-class conservation values of the Island."
The annual red crab migration has been described by Sir David Attenborough as one of the 10 greatest natural wonders on Earth. And it's easy to see why, with volumes of crabs crowding the roads, boardwalks and beaches.
It all leads to the "spawning morning", occurring around December 13-14, when the female crabs spawn en-masse and release billions of larvae into the ocean. Each female releases around 100,000 eggs using a fabulous shimmy dance movement.
The footage is expected to be on Google Street View in early 2018.
