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GEOMETRY – 3D PHOTOGRAPHS – Cylindrical crab hole

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We are surrounded by 3D objects. Even creatures can create them. This photograph of a crab hole was taken yesterday at Bennett’s Beach, Hawks Nest. The beach was covered with these 3D spaces, built by industrious sand crabs, almost perfect cylinders.

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These crabs are quite elusive and spend most of their time hidden underground. Did you know that a sand crab, unlike other crabs, can only move backwards? They have no claws on their front pair of legs. They feed in the wash zone where the tidal waves go up and down the shoreline. Sand crab tails also have the largest number of sensory neurons so they are often used in lab studies. And female sand crabs can lay up to 45 000 eggs at a time, even though most eggs do not survive..

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