What could be more relaxing on a brisk February afternoon than catching a spritely crustacean, bringing it to an ad hoc racetrack, and making it compete in feats of speed and endurance? That’s what National Champion Crab Races day is all about. Here’s a report about how one crab race went down in 2010 from Blo’s Blah Blah Blog:
“On a typical night, these crabs compete in 12 to 14 heat races. Here’s how each race unfolds: The crustaceans loiter beneath an upside-down plastic salad bowl at the center of a 6-foot racing ring. Then the bowl is lifted, and crabs scatter in all directions. The first to cross the yellow ring wins and advances to the nightly championship race. The human whose crab wins the championship gets to choose a sealed envelope containing $10 to $100 in prize money.”
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You can watch a video of a crab race here. If the whole practice seems rather cruel to you, check out the artistic expression of six crab-lovers below. Animators like Ethan Barnowsky, Mariana Krause, and Owen Davey celebrate the bottom-feeding insects of the see with fun and mesmerizing loops, which you can check out below.
See more Crab GIFs on GIPHY.
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