Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-15**Lead**
A research expedition to a remote Pacific island in search of clues about Amelia Earhart's disappearance is battling an unlikely adversary: giant coconut crabs. Members of the team, working on the island of Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati, report that the enormous land crabs — some weighing several pounds with claws capable of exerting hundreds of pounds of force — have damaged cameras, chewed through ropes, and stolen gear vital to the investigation. The development adds a new layer of difficulty to one of the most enduring mysteries in aviation history.
**Contexto**
The expedition, organized by a private group dedicated to solving Earhart's disappearance, arrived on Nikumaroro earlier this month to search for artifacts that could confirm the long-standing theory that Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, landed on the island in 1937 after losing contact with the world. The pair vanished during their attempt to fly around the globe, and despite decades of searches, no confirmed wreckage has ever been recovered. Nikumaroro, part of the Phoenix Islands, has been a focus of investigators since the 1940s, when a partial skeleton and a shoe were found on the island and later dismissed as not conclusively linked to the aviator.
Coconut crabs, also known as robber crabs, are the largest land-living arthropods on Earth. They are native to islands across the Indian and Pacific Oceans and can grow to a leg span of three feet or more. Their powerful claws are strong enough to crack open coconuts, and researchers have documented them climbing trees, carrying heavy objects, and scavenging on animal matter. On Nikumaroro, the crabs have long been known to locals and scientists, but their behavior has become a significant practical problem for the current expedition.
Expedition members told reporters that the crabs are particularly attracted to the smell of food and plastic, which can resemble the scent of their natural prey. At night, the crabs emerge from burrows in large numbers and wander through the camp. The team has reported several incidents: one crab severed a cable that connected a remote camera to a solar charger; another made off with a GPS antenna; and a third managed to climb into a supply box and damage a drone. The animals have also been observed dragging light objects, such as water bottles and small tools, toward their burrows.
**Analise**
The crab problem is more than an inconvenience. It highlights the extreme difficulty of conducting fieldwork in one of the most remote environments on the planet. Nikumaroro has no permanent human population, no harbor, and limited freshwater. Supplies must be brought in by boat or plane, and every piece of equipment must be carefully managed. The crabs' ability to mutilate soft materials, crush thin metal, and pull apart protective casings forces researchers to adapt quickly, often sealing gear in metal containers or hanging cameras from high branches. The situation also underscores the resilience of the island's ecosystem, which has evolved without large mammalian predators and where these crabs effectively occupy the role of scavengers and apex opportunists.
For the Earhart investigation, the crabs pose a particular problem: any historical debris or potential human remains scattered across the island could have been moved, buried, or destroyed by crab activity over the past nine decades. Scientists studying animal behavior note that coconut crabs are known to collect shiny objects and bones, which could explain why some artifacts have been found in unusual positions. This raises the possibility that the crabs themselves are a factor in the mysterious absence of clear wreckage, adding to the challenge of reconstructing what happened after Earhart's final radio transmission.
Despite the setbacks, expedition organizers say the search will continue. The team has begun using reinforced equipment and implementing new anti-crab protocols, including elevated storage platforms and nightly inspections. No government agency is officially leading the effort, but the expedition has received attention from aviation historians and archaeologists worldwide. The findings from Nikumaroro could eventually contribute to a definitive conclusion about Earhart's fate, though the crabs are likely to remain a memorable part of the story.
**Fontes**
The information in this article is based on field dispatches from the expedition team and historical records concerning Amelia Earhart's 1937 flight and the geography of Nikumaroro, part of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in the Republic of Kiribati.