WATCH: Humboldt’s Crab Fisherman attaches a GoPro camera using a zipper inside a crab pot; Binge eating ensues | Lost Coast Outpost

###

Have you ever wondered what happens inside crab pots when they are underwater?

Fortuna resident Robert Wall decided to find out.

“We saw a nice break in time on Saturday and decided to go out,” the local sports crabeater told the Outpost. “My friend John said we should put a GoPro in one of the jars. Honestly, I was just curious and wanted to see what was going on there.

So they attached the little camera inside the cage, loaded it with herring and chicken as bait, and pressed the disc. The footage they later retrieved with their hard-shell grip shows the cage quickly sinking to the bottom of Humboldt Bay, raising a plume of sediment as it lands.

Before the silt settles, the hungry shadows of Dungeness descend, their claws and paws snapping against the bars of the metal grid.

“I didn’t expect the crab to be in the pot in less than 30 seconds,†Wall said. “It’s getting pretty crazy over there.”

The video – which goes from normal to slow, then fast, then back to normal – shows total binge eating as the ten-legged crustaceans rush towards the bait and begin to tear off pieces, in using their tongs to push pieces of meat into their little crab mouth. (Make sure the sound is on when watching.)

After several years of shortened seasons due to the high levels of domoic acid detected in meat, the commercial and sport fishing seasons for crab are now in full swing.

“It’s been really good for us sports crabbers,†Wall said, adding, “They’re delicious this year.â€