Thursday, April 11, 2013

Mantis Shrimp = Awesomesauce

I realize that until I use an underwater camera or am able to mooch photos and video from other divers like I did for our Komodo dives, my photo-less posts on scuba diving and laundry lists of cool underwater sea creatures (like this one I just posted from Gili Air) are probably pretty sleep inducing.  I try to link to photos or info on the different creatures so stimulate your interest if you're inclined to do some clicking, but that's probably not enough to keep your much sought-after attention.  

Photo from Manta Dive
Luckily, one of my favorite web comics, The Oatmeal, recently did a fun informational comic on one particularly awesome undersea creature that Tim and I have now glimpsed twice (once in Komodo, once last week in Gili Air): the mantis shrimp.  Please do check out his comic, "Why the mantis shrimp is my new favorite animal..."  Funny and informative!  Definitely check out all of the links and videos at the bottom of the comic, too.  You'll find out just how amazing and totally badass this little lobster tail with eyes (mmm... lobster tail) is... beautiful, dangerous, talented, inspirational...  I wish I had seen it in action underwater, but I also feel pretty lucky to have seen it in the wild at all.

3 comments:

  1. 1. I love the Oatmeal. 2. I watched the videos. I might have a nightmare. 3. Do you get to cage dive when Mantis Shrimp are around? 4. They are awesome. and very unsettling.

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    Replies
    1. I know! Beautiful and slightly terrifying! My personal rule for creatures and diving is look but don't touch or even gesture as if to touch. A good general rule for wildlife, as i'm sure you know.

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    2. That way you generally keep all of your digits and whatnot.

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