The coconut crab is the 800-pound gorilla of many tropical beaches. Not only is it the biggest and strongest crab on land, it’ll eat just about anything—animal, vegetable, or even mineral.

Coconut crabs are found in tropical environments in the Indian and southwestern Pacific oceans. They hatch in the sea, where they float around for a few weeks. They then move ashore, where they live in the discarded shells of other creatures. The crabs lose the shells when they become adults. They stay close to the beach, but they don’t go back in the water; they have lungs instead of gills, so they drown if they stay underwater for long.

An adult coconut crab has a leg span of about three feet, and can weigh up to nine pounds. It has powerful claws that can crack open a coconut and scoop out the meat. It can even climb a tree to knock a coconut to the ground.

The crabs also have been seen to climb trees to attack seabirds. Most of their diet consists of fruits, seeds, and dead animals. They eat abandoned shells for their calcium. But they sometimes grab birds, rats, or even other crabs. And they steal many human artifacts, from pots and pans to firearms, so they’re also known as robber crabs.

Coconut crabs have been wiped out in some regions. They’re hunted for their meat, crowded out by human development, and damaged by higher sea level and warmer oceans. Some areas offer legal protection—a helping hand—or claw—for these giants of the beach.

It looks like something a six-year-old dreamed up in art class—the body of a fish, the “wings” of a bird, the legs of a crab, and even the taste buds of a human tongue. Throw in some loud croaks and grunts, and you’ve got one of the ocean’s many oddities: the sea robin.

The fish is found in warm waters around the globe—usually in shallow water with a sandy or rocky bottom. A typical adult is a foot or more long, although some species can reach twice that size. The fish have tapered bodies, and heavy skulls that help them poke around the bottom for food—shrimp, clams, crabs, and small fish.

When a sea robin swims, the fins on the sides of its body fan out like the wings of a bird—hence the name. As the fish matures, the “rays” at the front of these fins change. They form small “legs” that the fish uses to walk along the bottom.

But the legs are for more than just getting around. The fish uses them to feel out prey. And at least one species may use them to “taste” prey before they ever see it.

In a recent lab study, biologists buried some of the sea robin’s favorite foods below the sand and watched them feel it out. They then buried some of the chemicals produced by the prey. And they found that one species quickly dug up those goodies as well. The legs of those fish were coated with tiny sensory organs that are a bit like the taste buds on your tongue. They allow the sea robin to “taste” its food well before it even swallows it.

A steep change in the slope of a riverbed can create rapids—regions where the water is especially fast and choppy—and dangerous. The same thing applies to rivers in the sky. Steep changes in altitude, temperature, or pressure can concentrate the water, creating rapids. They can cause downpours that are especially fast and heavy—and dangerous. That appears to be the case for recent springtime flooding in the Middle East.

Atmospheric rivers form when water evaporates from the ocean. As it rises, it’s caught in a jet stream, forming a tight, high-speed river. The average one delivers as much water per minute as the mouth of the Mississippi River.

When an atmospheric river crosses land, it can produce rain and snow. That can be helpful. But it also can be deadly, producing flooding, mudslides, and other dangers.

A recent study blamed deadly flooding in the Middle East in April 2023 on such a river, but one with rapids—waves with much higher concentrations of water. They dumped as much rain as some regions see in an entire year. Similar flooding in 2024 also might have been caused by rapids. The rapids were powered by evaporation from the Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian and Mediterranean seas.

Our warming climate is increasing the rate of evaporation. It’s also changing circulation patterns over the Atlantic. So the deserts of the Middle East could see more flooding in the years ahead—perhaps powered by rivers and rapids high in the sky.