The Shrimp With a Sun Inside Its Claw

This shrimp is more dangerous than it looks. Send this to someone who underestimates small things. In warm shallow seas lives a shrimp barely the length of a finger, with one oversized claw held ready like a loaded spring.

Kamba huyu ni hatari zaidi kuliko anavyoonekana. Tuma hii kwa mtu anayedharau vitu vidogo. Katika bahari za kina kifupi zenye joto anaishi kamba mwenye urefu wa kidole kimoja tu, akiwa na kucha moja kubwa iliyowekwa tayari kama chemchemi iliyopakiwa.

When the shrimp snaps that claw shut, it happens so fast that it does not just hit its target. It creates a bubble in the water that collapses almost instantly, and for a fraction of a second, the inside of that collapsing bubble reaches a temperature close to the surface of the sun. The sound alone is louder than a gunshot, loud enough to stun or kill small fish nearby.

Kamba huyo anapofunga kucha hiyo kwa ghafla, hutokea kwa kasi kiasi kwamba haigongi tu shabaha yake. Hutengeneza kifuko cha hewa ndani ya maji kinachoporomoka mara moja, na kwa sehemu ndogo ya sekunde, ndani ya kifuko hicho kinachoporomoka hufikia joto karibu na uso wa jua. Sauti pekee ni kubwa kuliko risasi ya bunduki, kubwa vya kutosha kumzimia au kumuua samaki mdogo aliye karibu.

Nothing about the shrimp itself gets hot. The heat and the sound both come from the bubble, gone before it could ever be felt. Divers who work near coral reefs often hear the snapping sound before they see a single shrimp.

Hakuna kitu chochote kwenye mwili wa kamba huyo kinachopata joto. Joto na sauti vyote hutoka kwenye kifuko hicho, ambacho hupotea kabla hata hakijaweza kuhisiwa. Wapiga mbizi wanaofanya kazi karibu na miamba ya matumbawe mara nyingi husikia sauti ya kufunga kucha kabla hawajaona hata kamba mmoja.