Wednesday hundreds of crimson-colored crabs swarmed the Imperial and Huntington beaches in Southern California, an event that experts believe was triggered by El Niño.

The brightly hued , but warm waters likely linked to the annual warming event can push them north, according to NOAA.

"Just like last year, in June we had a washing of tuna crabs and they think it's ," Imperial Beach Lifeguard Captain Robert Stabenow told CBS. "The warmer waters are pushing them up and when they hit the cold waters of San Diego, they die off."

The photo above shows the tiny red crabs that washed ashore in Newport Beach, California, on June 17, 2015, in California. The Pleuroncodes planipes, also known as pelagic red crabs or "tuna crabs," look like tiny lobsters. They recently washed ashore again along a number of southern California beaches.

(FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

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According to the Christian Science Monitor, . Though the tiny crustaceans have appeared in smaller numbers this time around, their presence is still felt - literally.

“,” beachgoer Katie Glover told The Orange County Register. “It was on my foot. We were walking, and my little Yorkie ran past it and cried. I think he got pinched by one first.”

Though they can be a nuisance in their own sense, the small sea creatures are a less morbid option than what has appeared in Chile.

Lately, , salmon, sardines and clams, an event scientists have also blamed on El Niño.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: El Niño's Effect on California

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