Crabzilla: Photo Appears To Show Giant, 50-Foot Crab Lurking In British Waters


An astonishing image appears to show a giant crab, nearly 50 feet across, lurking in the harbor at Whitstable, Kent, and while some assert that it is a playful hoax, others believe they have found evidence of a genuine aquatic monster.

The aerial image reveals the outline of a crab at the mouth of Kent harbor, yet the size of the animal dwarfs fishing boats on a nearby pier, as the Daily Mail notes. The giant animal is shaped like an edible crab, a species commonly found in British waters, but which only grows to be ten inches across, on average.

People have flocked to the website Weird Whitstable since the image was first posted there, to judge its authenticity for themselves. Quinton Winter, who curates Weird Whitstable, asserted that the image of the giant crab was sent to him by a follower. At first, he believed that it showed only an unusually shaped sand formation, though he is now convinced that there truly is a strange animal lurking in the harbor.

While crabbing with his son in Whitstable harbor last year, Winter claims to have spotted the giant crab near shore, as he related to The Daily Express.

“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,’ Winter said. “It had glazed blank eyes on stalks, swiveling 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.”

Winter's blog also features another image of a giant crab, purportedly taken last year.
In July of last year, another image emerged, depicting a giant crab lurking underneath a pier.

Another image, said to be taken in July of last year and posted on Winter’s Weird Whitstablog, purports to show a giant, albeit smaller, crab hiding under a pier.

“This shocking image of a giant crab under a popular crabbing spot in Whitstable was taken last weekend,” claims Winter’s website, adding “The boys were unaware of the danger, but as several passersby shouted to them, the crab slipped silently away under the water, into the dark, sideways.”

Graphic artist Ashley Austen noted his skepticism of the aerial image while speaking to Kent Online, describing the way in which such a photograph could be easily manufactured.

“The image of the giant crab can be quite easily recreated in Photoshop,” he said. “All the ‘artist’ had to do is find a suitable image of a crab, overlay it on to the satellite picture of the harbor and apply a few filters to it to get the realistic look.”

Earlier this year, another photograph of an unknown creature emerged from England, appearing to show “Bownessie,” an animal similar to the Loch Ness Monster. As The Inquisitr noted at the time, the surprisingly clear image was met with claims that it had been similarly created in Photoshop.

The largest known species of crustacean is the Japanese Spider Crab. Giant in comparison to other known species of crab, adults can grow to be 12 feet across.

[Images: Quinton Winter via The Daily Express and Weird Whitstablog]

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