I think last year Kurt said it was mating season?
The crabs would all be hanging around right at shoreline, if you delicately jumped over a couple feet, the worst of the "gathering" would be avoided, but there were still a few strays and both my son and our dog got pinched, though I never did. We see mottled as well as blue.
I've been seeing a lot of hermit crabs, too. They're mostly little and cute, but I did see one big boy that was as big as my hand.
