Crab Steals Diver’s Camera and Runs Away

A thieving crab stole a diver’s camera and attempted to run away with it before being thwarted.

The humorous clip was captured in The Bahamas on September 1 and was filmed by Duran Roberts, according to Viral Hog.

In the clip, filmed on a 360-degree video camera, the crab is seen floating down to the sea bed with the device that has “Gamestop” written on the top. Hooked into its claw, the crab scuttles away with the device while maintaining eye contact with the person filming. Unfortunately for the crab, a second diver swims up behind it and grabs the device. However, the crab does not let go without a fight and repeatedly whacks the second diver with its claw.

The crab couldn’t keep its camera but seveal commentators on Reddit praised the crustacean for its fighting spirit.

“He looks angry when the diver took it back,” writes BlunZ6. “That folks, is exactly what it feels like to have a toddler,” adds Heavenspact.

It’s not the first time Duran, a licensed boat captain in The Bahamas, has captured a crab stealing a camera, per his Instagram account.

Crabs often “steal” objects due to a natural instinct for survival. Crabs will take shells, debris, and objects for the purpose of building their homes. Hermit crabs, for example, live in shells that have to be replaced as they grow — even taking pieces of trash to live in.

In March 2020, a researcher on Christmas Island said that aptly-named robber crabs were stealing and vandalizing her camera equipment causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. Also known as coconut crabs, the giant arthropods can grow over three feet wide and weigh as much as nine pounds.

Annabel Dorrestein said the crabs had been dragging away her thermal imaging cameras and other gear ever since she started her research on the Indian Ocean island.

“The tripod that it was mounted to was knocked over, we saw claw marks on the tripod where the thermal camera was attached to the cord that ran from the thermal camera to the battery — [it] was mangled or claw marks on the battery,” Dorrestein said at the time. “So basically, a big robber crab ripped the thermal camera off the spotting scope and mangled the cables so it came loose and just dragged it into the forest.”