Story:
Watch: Crabzilla Giant Crab Spotted Off British Coast.
World’s Biggest Crab Found in British Waters
Other Versions
50ft giant crab caught on camera yards from British harbour.
Analysis:
A picture shared heavily online claims to show the satellite image of a 50ft Giant Crabzilla spotted off a British coast in Kent. The story sparked an online debate as to whether a super-sized ‘Crabzilla’ could be living off the Kent coast. Let us analyze if the claim is hoax or fact.
Story As Reported
The picture and story originated from Weird Whitstable blog (weirdwhitstable.co.uk) which calls itself as ‘an online journal of the weird in Whitstable’. The owner of the blog, a Whitstable resident, Quinton Winter, said he initially thought the satellite image sent to him by a follower could be some unusual sand formation that looks like a giant crab, but after seeing the large creature while crabbing with his son, he says he is now convinced that it is a real monster crab. Describing his story, Quinton Winter told Express.co.uk, “At first all I could see was some faint movement, then as it rose from the water I thought, ‘that’s a funny looking bit of driftwood. It had glazed blank eyes on stalks, swivelling wildly and it clearly was a massive crab with crushing claws. Before this incident I thought the aerial photo showed an odd-shaped sand bank. Now I know better.”
The story became popular because the purported satellite image of a giant crabzilla took to mainstream media outlets.
Giant Crabs
Experts say that seen in the picture seems to be an edible crab called Cancer pagurus, which is usually found in British waters, but it generally grows only up to 10 inches, weighing six pounds. The biggest known crab species is the Japanese spider crab (picture below), which can grow up to 12ft. Notably, large crabs like these tend to stay in much deeper waters and do not come ashore.
Picture Photoshopped
The ‘Crabzilla’ picture was first shared on the Weird Whitstable blog in 2013, and later in the same year, another giant crab picture with open claws was posted to the site. There were no credible reports or images to corroborate the authenticity of the images. A search of the shown location at Whitstable harbour on Bing Maps (screenshot below) reveals that the satellite image in question is originally taken from Bing Maps (without any crab), and then a photo of a crab was overlaid into it, to create the hoax story of Crabzilla. As stated in press release & interview webpage of his blog, note that Quinton Winter worked as an artist and illustrator for Time Out Magazine and posts ‘unbelievable’ tales in his blog.
In short, the picture of a satellite image claiming to show a 50ft giant Crabzilla is photoshopped image; the related story is a hoax.
Hoax or Fact:
Hoax.
Related Stories:
References:
Crabzilla – the verdict: Giant crab in Whitstable is hoax, rules leading marine biologist
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