S2E7: Powerful Pistol Shrimp

In this this episode Hannah Hunter tells us about pistol shrimps, one of the loudest and most powerful animals in the ocean. This season is all about “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast.

 Featured: 

• S4E07: Republic of Noise with Jeremy Gordon on The Animal Turn.
• The Noisiest Guys on the Planet by Jana Winderen
• Project Power, a film with Jamie Foxx 

 Credits:

• Claudia Hirtenfelder, producer and host 
• Hannah Hunter, co-host
• Christiaan Mentz, sound editor and producer 
• Rebecca Shen, content producer and designer (logo and episode artwork)
• Gordon Clarke, bed music composer
• Learn more about the team here. 

 Support the podcast via: 

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/join/TheAnimalTurn 
• Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theanimalturn 
• Buzzsprout: https://theanimalturn.buzzsprout.com/ 

Sponsor:

• Thank you to the sponsors of the fourth season of The Animal Turn podcast, “Animals and Sound,” where this animal highlight was originally aired 9 February 2022. 

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

The Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory
The SAP Lab provides workspace and equipment for students engaged in sound related activities.

Sonic Arts Studio
The Queen’s Sonic Arts Studio (formerly Electroacoustic Music Studio) was founded in 1970.

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The Animal Highlight is a spinoff and sister podcast to the award winning show, the Animal Turn Podcast.

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Transcript

00:00 - Introduction 

• Welcome to Season 2 of The Animal Highlight. 
• This season is focused on “Animals and Sound” and was extracted from Season 4 of The Animal Turn Podcast (Republic of Noise with Jeremy Gordon).
• This season I am joined with a co-host, Hannah Hunter. A PhD Candidate in Geography at Queen’s University and a member of the Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory.
• This episode looks at pistol shrimp.  

01:15 – Shrimp

• Pistol shrimp belong to a category called “snapping shrimp” which are collectively some of the loudest animals in the ocean. 
• They have these snapping or popping sound on the ocean form. 
• Jana Winderen has a recording album called “the noisiest guys on the planet” which records shrimps who are an integral part of the ocean soundscape. 
• Some shrimp use the sound making capability for their survival, including the pistol shrimp. 

02:48 – Powerful Pistol Shrimp 

• Pistol shrimp capture their food and warn off predators through their sound
• They have an amazing ability where they crank their claws open and snap them shut in the direction of their prey. This creates a bubble and this bubble pops “creating a sound that’s so loud that it stuns that prey.” 
• Pistol shrimp are small, roughly 3-5 centimeters, smaller than your pinky. 
• They might also use this snapping sound and energy to warn off predators or in sexual competition. 
• There is so much energy in the bubble that it is hot. 
• Project Power is a film where people can unlock a superpower from an animal and the lead character, Jamie Foxx, has the powers of the pistol shrimp. He I able to make these hot, sonic booms. 
• Important to not sensationalize these creatures. They are often considered one of the most dangerous and noisiest and this has militarized them in some sense. They are also just beings who are living. 
• The bigger claw of the pistol shrimp snaps at a speed of 97kms per hour. The snap is 210 decibels, louder than a gun. 

06:50 - Credits

• Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics for sponsoring The Animal Turn Podcast.
• Thank you also to the Sonic Arts Studio and the Sonic Arts of Place Laboratory who were sponsors for the fourth season of The Animal Turn podcast that was focused on “Animals and Sound” where these animal highlights were extracted from. 
• A big thank you to Hannah Hunter for co-hosting this season of The Animal Highlight
• Co-hosted by Claudia Hirtenfelder and Hannah Hunter. 
• This episode was produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and edited by Christiaan Mentz. 
• The logo and episode artwork were created by Rebecca Shen. 
• Show notes compiled by Claudia Hirtenfelder