Coconut Crab - Birgus latro

This Crab was seen during a dive trip at Sipadan Island, a very small but protected island.
There used to be a lot of this Crabs running around on the island but due to dive operators setting up Resorts there, their population plummeted, as besides being a threat to their environment, they are also caught to be eaten. All resorts were eventually directed to be closed and moved out from the island towards end of 2004.

Present day, there is conservation efforts to help increase their population. The specimen in the picture is a newly caught individual without tag. Local conservationists try to tags as many of them as possible and if they come across any un-tag individual, it will be collected to to obtain data and measurements and tag before release.