News
Teenager visits cleaning station; gets teeth cleaned by shrimps
Teenagers, eh? Always showing off.
On a recent diving trip with his father to Bali, 13-year-old Russell Laman, from Lexington, Massachusetts USA, decided to imitate the behaviour of fish that were waiting for the services of the shrimps at a cleaning station to see what would happen.
Russell queued with the waiting fish and then opened his mouth when the shrimps came near. The shrimp then incredibly started to clean Russell’s mouth and remove food from between the boys teeth whilst his father Tim took photographs.
Russell said: ‘It felt like tiny little dentists picking away at my teeth and scuttling around my mouth, it tickled a little but not too badly.
‘I had watched fish getting cleaned at cleaning stations before and decided to try it out myself.
‘I thought it would be really cool to experience shrimp in my mouth first hand.
‘It is a large part of the ecosystem underwater and many fish rely on the shrimp so I decided to rely on them as well.’
Father and son discovered the fish ‘cleaning station’ where the shrimp wait for customers, in a beautiful outcrop of sponges growing from some rocks.
The area was loaded with cleaner shrimp and surrounded by hoards of fish.
‘I do the same thing as the fish, when I start to run out of air I slowly close my mouth and the shrimp get out of there.’
The behaviour of species like the White-banded Cleaner Shrimp is well known to hard-core biologists and divers but capturing the process on a human is very rare.
Tim said: ‘It really is pretty amazing that these little shrimp immediately recognize a human mouth as analogous to a fish mouth and go in looking for bits of food.
‘It takes a relaxed diver to take out his regulator at 23 metres deep and present your mouth wide open to some shrimp.
‘You have to hold your breath for I’d say at least 30 seconds to have a reasonable chance, and Russell calmly held his breath for over 40 seconds.
‘It is pretty unusual for a kid of Russell’s age to be able to do it.’
Maybe so, Tim, Maybe so – but I don’t think Colgate have got anything to worry about just yet.
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
Photo: Tim Laman
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
-
News3 months agoHone your underwater photography skills with Alphamarine Photography at Red Sea Diving Safari in March
-
News3 months agoCapturing Critters in Lembeh Underwater Photography Workshop 2024: Event Roundup
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs3 months agoCreature Feature: Swell Sharks
-
Blogs2 months agoMurex Resorts: Passport to Paradise!
-
Blogs2 months agoDiver Discovering Whale Skeletons Beneath Ice Judged World’s Best Underwater Photograph
-
Gear Reviews2 weeks agoGEAR REVIEW – Revolutionising Diving Comfort: The Sharkskin T2 Chillproof Suit
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months agoSave the Manatee Club launches brand new webcams at Silver Springs State Park, Florida
-
Gear Reviews3 months agoGear Review: Oceanic+ Dive Housing for iPhone