Several locals have reported "unusual amounts of dead horseshoe crabs" washing up on Massachusetts beaches in recent days.

However, officials say the spectacle is no cause for concern, as they're just molted crab shells – not dead crabs.

Hundreds of these horseshoe crab exoskeletons have been spotted along the shores of Falmouth, Weymouth, and Nahant, among other Bay State beaches, according to the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries .

It's a sign that the crabs are molting and shedding their outer shells, which is typical during late summer and early fall, officials said.

"They're a little bit offshore, buried down, hunkered down, molting, and then those old shells, the discarded ones, come in with the tides," said Dr. Kathy Tuxbury, senior veterinarian at the New England A

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