Thousands of shrimp wash ashore in Imperial Beach.
© Barbara RichardsThousands of shrimp wash ashore in Imperial Beach.
Thousands of tuna crab washed ashore near the pier in Imperial Beach Wednesday morning.

Lifeguards first discovered the crabs during low tide. This marks the second year in a row the tuna crabs have washed ashore in such large numbers.

"Just like last year, in June we had a washing of tuna crabs and they think its correlated with El Nino," said Imperial Beach Lifeguard Captain Robert Stabenow. "The warmer waters are pushing them up and when they hit the cold waters of San Diego, they die off."

The majority of the crabs that washed ashore in Imperial Beach are dead, but some are still alive. Experts are advising that people do not eat the crabs because they may be covered in toxins.


Whoa! Check out all these red tuna crabs in IB! I'll explain why they're here in a live report at 11 @CBS8 @News8 pic.twitter.com/XOjOfYeDLP

— Shannon Handy (@ShannonCBS8) May 11, 2016
#CHOPPER8 over huge amount of tiny red shrimp that washed ashore in Imperial Beach. @cbs8 at 11am pic.twitter.com/om4QnJwXum

— Barbara Richards (@sdbrichards) May 11, 2016
Thousands of shrimp wash ashore in Imperial Beach. We're live on @cbs8 at 11am. pic.twitter.com/8ZV75v11wf

— Barbara Richards (@sdbrichards) May 11, 2016