In the small coastal town of Crisfield, MD, lives a 16-time world champion crab picker named Hazel Cropper. Locals simply and affectionately know her as Hurricane Hazel. Born and raised in Crisfield, Hazel was just 9 years old when her grandmother taught her how to pick crabs. Some 76 years later, Hazel still has “the taste,” as she calls it, for picking.

Hazel has captured first-place honors in the National Hard Crab Derby 16 times and holds two world records — one of which is for picking five pounds of crabmeat in just 20 minutes. People come from far and wide to watch her lightning-quick hands picking crabs at The Crab Place in Crisfield from May to October. She is a legend.