Waikiki Aquarium’s Video of Tiny Baby Shrimp Is Too Cute to Resist
Have you ever seen baby shrimp? I hadn't, so when I stumbled across Waikiki Aquarium's video showing them off, I had to take a look! They shared the video on Wednesday, January 31st, and I don't know what I was expecting to see, but I was surprised by just how tiny they are!
The video starts by showing us a microscope, and then zooms in towards the eye piece to record what is in the petri dish below. Five or so tiny shrimp are swimming around down there and are only a bit bigger than the end of a needle. The Aquarium has jokes and the shrimp say, "Wassup TikTok!"
Those baby shrimp are teeny tiny! It's a cool video because it's something I've never seen before. After watching, I fell down a rabbit hole and into the aquarium's feed...they have some really cool things that they share! My favorite was their octopus named Ramon swimming and fanning out his tentacles...it was SO relaxing! @Waikiki Aquarium commenters thought they were pretty cute, too. @AlexandreaTikTok made me laugh when she shouted, "POKÉMON!" Commenter @Happyappy80 requested, "We need a TikTok about the clam that has to live in a box because he gets bullied, please and thank you". Now that's a story I want to hear more about, too!
Related: Kind People Go Above and Beyond to Rescue Injured Sea Turtle in Hawaii
Baby Shrimp Facts
Did you know that baby shrimp are called shrimplets? What a cute name! I didn't know that because I know nothing at all about shrimp, other than some shrimp live in freshwater and some live in saltwater. So I decided to see if I could find some cool facts about them.
Shrimp are born from eggs and are born in the early spring. Mom carries the eggs on the underside of her body until it's time for them to hatch. The number of eggs a mom can lay is astonishing - up to a million at a time! But there's a reason for that...chances of survival are low. Once the shrimplets hatch, they float along with plankton until they are big enough to hunt on their own. And what eats plankton? Just about everything including whales, which gulp down huge amounts of them at a time. Luckily babies grow pretty quickly and by 5 weeks old they can hunt and protect themselves.
Another interesting fact is that shrimp can reproduce again just days after their eggs hatch. Imagine having a million babies every few weeks! Shrimp have a short lifespan, and only live for a year or two. This is another reason that moms have so many babies at once.
Who knew that shrimp were so interesting! I'm going to follow the Aquarium's page because ocean animals and life are fascinating to me. Hopefully they'll share about that clam that was bullied, too!
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