I remember being blown away as I walked onto the beach at Cow Bay. Incredible golden sand stretching out ahead of me, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site on either side of it – Daintree Rainforest on the left, Great Barrier Reef on the right. Best of all, I had the place to myself, not a single human being in sight.

I spent a few hours exploring Cow Bay. At low tide you can climb over the rocks and discover two even more deserted beaches further to the north – just be sure to get back before the tide turns, you wouldn’t want to be going for a swim here (on account of the giant chompy dinosaurs in the water).

I’d taken dozens of quintessential tropical beach photos – but was left feeling a little disappointed. I’d brought my telephoto lens in the hope of spotting a croc, or even a cassowary, but had found nothing, not even an orange-footed scrub fowl.

I decided to give up on photography for the day and just enjoy the incredible surroundings. Exhausted, I sat down on a rock and pulled out a book.

I’d only been sitting there for ten minutes or so when I looked up to discover that the beach had come to life…

Ghost Crabs! Dozens of them had climbed up out of their holes in the sand and resumed their crab business while I’d been reading.

Ghost Crabs are extremely secretive creatures, and they’re highly determined to not let humans see any of their crab business. Just look how shocked this one was when he realised I was taking photos of him.

What is it that Ghost Crabs don’t want you to see? Well, I could tell you, but that would be breaking the NDA that this crab made me sign (although he did have a claw to my throat at the time).

Despite my desperation to reveal what I saw that day, I will respect the ancient traditions of the crab. If you want to know what crab business is all about, you’ll have to go visit them yourself… Or just Google it I suppose.

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Ghost crab (Ocypode sp.), Cow Bay, Queensland

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Check out this post for some secret footage, don’t tell the crabs though.