#007 - Amazing Creatures You Never Heard Of!

I've been thinking about this post since last Sunday, when I chanced upon the Nat Geo channel. Started off with watch the sharks, on how humans experiment what triggers the attention of these Great Whites. They did their tests with props like urine, shiny objects, yellow items, noise etc. I was seriously in disbelief how these people are crazily brave. They dive into the deep seas, swim along with sharks, not knowing if these fierce creatures would harm them.

But then at the end of the show, I realized some true facts.  Every year millions of people go swimming and out of which, around 6 of them were killed from shark attacks. And each year, thousands of sharks were killed by people. Sad but true.

Photo credits: National Geographic, Think Quest

Some other (WEIRD) sea creatures which I got to know from this are Pistol Shrimp, Star Gazer and Electric Eel. You know how unique they are from the names that they have.

Pistol Shrimp

They look small and friendly, don't they? But mehhhh. THEY ARE NOT. 

Facts:

Pistol Shrimp, is one of the loudest creatures in the World. The shrimp can be left-handed or right-handed and may feature the special claw on either arm of the body, but unlike regular shrimp claws and other crustaceans, it does not have pincers at the end of it. Instead the claw is designed rather like a pistol with two parts: a “hammer” part, that moves backward into a right-angled position, and the other half of the claw is in a fixed closed position. When it releases the hammer part of the claw it snaps perfectly into position and makes its tooth-shaped plunger move into a niche in the other half of the claw. 

The shrimp uses this inherent talent for hunting prey, hence it’s called the pistol shrimp. While hunting, the little shrimp hides behind an obscured spot like a burrow and shoots its flashy bubbles at passing prey. The pressure of the snapping bubble is sufficient to stun a passing crab or even kill small fish. It then pulls the stunned catch into it’s burrow and feeds on it.

Next up, the Star Gazer. To be honest, this is one of the most disgusting fish that I have ever seen. They look horrible, and the way they hunt for their prey is terrible too. But I am still very amazed by their swiftness.

So brace up for this ugly-looking fish...

I find them uber disgusting coz they look almost humanly from this view. Don't you agree? >.<

The 2nd pic totally shows how I saw them on TV. First, they will find a good spot for preying. Then they will sweep themselves beneath the bed of sand, leaving just their eyes and their BIG MOUTH uncovered. After which, they would just wait for some innocent poor fishes to swim by and they will gulp them down. But I must say, it is a very smart way of disguise.

Last but not least, the Electric Eel.

Will not mention too much on this creature coz I'm gonna show you a video of how this electric eel killed an alligator which is a few times its own size! I'm pretty sure you'll be as shocked as I was last Sunday!