What's happening on Romagna's beaches? Blue crabs are on the rise.

In recent days, the Romagna coast has been experiencing an unusual and surprising phenomenon: large numbers of blue crabs have been spotted along the beaches, attracting the attention of residents, tourists, and environmentalists. In addition to the impact on the local marine ecosystem, the invasion also raises concerns for fishing activities and beach safety, making it urgent to understand what is really happening.

Forced migration of blue crabs along the Emilia-Romagna coast

The anomalous presence of blue crabs near the coast can be explained by the dynamics of environmental stress : females, migrating from brackish waters to the open sea to reproduce, encountered areas depleted of oxygen. To survive, the crustaceans had to move to surface, more oxygenated waters, finding refuge near the shore, where food is also more readily available.

In recent days, beaches in Emilia-Romagna, particularly between Marina di Ravenna and Punta Marina and in the Ferrara area between Lido di Volano and Lido di Spina, have seen an unusual concentration of blue crabs close to the shore . Observations by experts at the Daphne Oceanographic Facility have highlighted how the phenomenon is closely linked to specific environmental conditions : vast areas of the seabed are in a state of hypoxia or anoxia due to oxygen deficiency, a situation that periodically recurs in the northern Adriatic as a result of eutrophication processes.

Experts also report that the oxygenation of the seabed could increase in the coming days, thanks to the mixing of the waters favored by the weather and sea conditions.

“The most logical explanation is that it is a temporary phenomenon; with the drop in temperatures they should leave the beaches and retreat towards the open sea , ” underlined Sasa Raicevich , a researcher at Ispra, to Il Resto del Carlino.