A research crew searching for American aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart has arrived at an island where they will sleep on their ship to avoid giant land-dwelling crabs.
The coconut crabs, also known as Robber crabs, can lift heavy weights, split open coconuts, emerge at night to hunt small mammals and seabirds, and may have played a role in Earhart's disappearance alongside navigator Fred Noonan.
The five-day search could also be hampered by the El Niño climate phenomenon, which is currently the strongest ever recorded.
One group of researchers plans to cut a trail through the jungle, while the crew prepares on Tuesday to navigate a narrow gap blasted in the atoll's reef by the British in 1963 during the island's last habitation.