In Reply to: Best pictures of a mantis shrimp i have ever seen~ posted by Brad on February 29, 2012 at 16:46:03:

Back in 1987 i was fishing along the front side of Catalina in my first skiff and i brought up this incredibly beautiful creature that i had never seen before...

i reached out to gently grab it to remove the hook and that's the last thing i remember...

thought i somehow must have popped a tendon, but there was all this blood...(unbelievable pain!) i had absolutely no idea what just happened to me!

before i cut it loose, i saw the talon--looked at my thumb and then put the two together..

That week i happened across an article about this new invasive El nino creature called the mantis shrimp. It said that mantis shrimp have the fastest reflex movement of any creature on earth.

the following weekend i was back out at Catalina and happened to run into the brother of my best friend...

he had a bandage on his right thumb..(still bleeding)

i held up my bandaged right thumb and i asked him what happened?!

he said that this "thing" got him! and he went on to describe the most evil creature on earth...

i reached in my back pocket and pulled out the article and handed it to him...

Mantis shrimp can project a pulse of focused sonic energy that can kill their prey without even touching it-

My suggestion-- if you ever see a mantis shrimp, keep your distance or RUN in the opposite direction!

:)

• Re: first mantis shrimp encounter Max Bottomtime 19:49:01 02/29/12 (0)