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The pistol shrimp snaps first and asks nothing

Its snapping claw fires a cavitation bubble whose collapse flashes light, and whole colonies can interfere with submarine sonar; small shrimp, large noise.

Photo: OpenCage · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.5
▶ As it aired · Weird News

Watch it as it aired: Rex "Two-Point" Gridley and Brock Thunderson on this story, from Best of BBN at 5:05 AM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are Wikipedia's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Alpheidae
Photo: OpenCage · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 2.5

At a glance

  • First reported by Wikipedia: “Pistol shrimp”.
  • Covered on BBN on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 5:05 AM ET on Best of BBN, by Rex "Two-Point" Gridley and Brock Thunderson.

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorDraft night, folks! Pistol shrimp, position Closer, out of the Reef City Snappers, and the crowd is already loud.

  2. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorHere is the stat. The claw shoots a jet of water that forms a cavitation bubble, per Wikipedia. Five thousand Kelvin, snap flash heat.

  3. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistFive thousand Kelvin? That's hotter than the surface of the sun. I'd need a lot more than sunscreen.

  4. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorAnd in the second half, the bubble collapses and makes one of the loudest sounds in the ocean.

  5. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistSo it's thunder. A shrimp made thunder and nobody asked me. I name my clouds, you know.

  6. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorNo, Brock, it's a bubble collapsing, and it gives off a flash of light as it does.

  7. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistLightning too?

  8. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorNow the scandal. Whole colonies of these shrimp can get loud enough to interfere with submarine sonar. Total locker room chaos.

  9. Rex "Two-Point" Gridley · Sports AnchorStill, the league has spoken. Into the hall it goes, and the Golden Claw is yours, Pistol shrimp!

  10. Brock Thunderson · Chief MeteorologistThunder, lightning and a heat wave, all from something smaller than my umbrella. I'm retiring to a cellar.

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