Shrimp Surprise

(YouTube link)

Life flourishes in the strangest places on earth. From the YouTube link:

At a depth of 600 feet beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet, a small shrimp-like creature managed to brighten up an otherwise gray polar day in late November 2009. This critter is a three-inch long Lyssianasid amphipod found beneath the Ross Ice Shelf, about 12.5 miles away from open water. NASA scientists were using a borehole camera to look back up towards the ice surface when they spotted this pinkish-orange creature swimming beneath the ice.

-Via: The Presurfer, Via: Neatorama

Shrimp defense

Smooth nylon shrimp (Heterocarpus laevigatus) inhabiting the dark depths of the Pacific employ a brilliant method of defense. When threatened with attack, the creature spits a cloud of bioluminescent blue fluid from its mouth, temporarily blinding its predator and allowing escape. LINK

This rarely seen footage of the smooth nylon shrimp’s defense mechanism in action was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. LINK: Youtube