I’m not sure about you, but when I was a kid, I learned that crabs shed their shells as snakes shed their skins.

And witnessing the process unfold can only be characterized as strange.

It’s available here:

The incredible moment in which the crab pushes itself out of its outer shell, commonly known as its exoskeleton, was captured in Galloway, New Jersey, USA.

The crab seems to discard its legs, eye stalks, antennae, mouth parts, and gills while losing its outer shell—you know, most of the critical stuff a crustacean needs.

That is not all.

It also leaves its esophagus, stomach lining, and the final half inch of its intestine in its previous shell.

But why would a crab put itself through such an ordeal?

One explanation is that its exoskeleton does not grow with the crab, so they must ultimately get rid of it by ‘molting’ in the same manner that humans gradually outgrow their clothes.

A crab’s new shell is very fragile after molting, but it hardens within a few days. It takes approximately a month for it to become very hard,’ according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“Besides allowing the crab to grow, molting helps to get rid of parasites, barnacles, and other animals growing on the shell,” according to the NOAA website.

“It also helps to get rid of shells damaged by bacteria that degrade the chitin in the exoskeleton.”

Crabs that have lost a leg for any reason can regrow the limb over time, which can happen during the molting process.

They’re also supposed to reabsorb part of the calcium carbonate from the old exoskeleton’ before shedding their previous shell.

Then, produced and released enzymes separate the old shell from the underlying skin.

Molting is supposed to be a highly painful procedure for crabs; thus, larger ones may only molt once a year.

Aside from the fact that it is an uncommon event, what makes the video so bizarre is that crabs usually dig in the sand to find a secure place to begin the molting process, but this crab opted not to.

Instead, the crab performs it on the surface of what appears to be a boat, providing the person recording with a stunning and one-of-a-kind performance.