Mantis Shrimp: Why you DON'T mess with Mother Nature

 Thanks prilfish !

Now you may be wondering why Terressentials (an organic body care company) has an article in their newsletter about mantis shrimp. The topic of these little aquatic critters seems kind of (well, more than kind of) unrelated to body care – or is it?

Some of you may be familiar with the recent posting on The Oatmeal webcomic regarding mantis shrimp. This post caught my attention because when I first read it, I knew nothing about mantis shrimp and I was wondering why this post got so much attention. Then I read the comic and all I could think was “WOW, mantis shrimp are pretty awesome.”

As the comic shows its readers, human eyes can see combinations of basically three different colors: red, blue, and green. Think on that for a moment. All the colors of the rainbow and of the world come from delicate and complex combinations of these three colors. But mantis shrimp, why they can see sixteen different “colors.” That's every color that we humans see, then thirteen more concepts that we can't even imagine or wrap our heads around.

If that's not enough to impress you, take this into consideration: these little buggers can club or spear (depending on the specific species of mantis shrimp) its prey in milliseconds with enough power that is over 1000 times its body weight. Here is a quote from The Patek Lab, a marine biology lab from the University of Massachusetts that studies mantis shrimp:

“Peacock mantis shrimp use a hammer-like appendage to smash open snail shells for food. Not only did high speed imaging reveal that peacock mantis shrimp forelimbs reach maximum speeds from 12-23 m/s (in water!), but it also showed that cavitation bubbles were forming between the appendage and snail shell. We found that, as a result of the limb's extraordinary speed, the water cavitates (vaporizes) when the limb strikes the prey. Cavitation is a destructive phenomenon; when these vapor bubbles collapse, they essentially cause a small implosion in the water which produces heat, light and sound. For example, rapidly rotating boat propellers are often badly damaged by cavitation to the point of developing holes in the metal.”

So, yeah, mantis shrimp are pretty phenomenal. Now, you're probably intrigued by these shrimp, but are still wondering what on Earth do mantis shrimp have to do with Terressentials. Give me just one moment, and I'll get to it, I promise.

Mantis shrimp evolved naturally over time just the way they are – full of color and with super-sensory abilities. They are not glowing mice or kittens manufactured in labs for scientific research and profit.

Other naturally-evolved creations of this planet include the organic herbs that Terressentials uses in our USDA certified organic body care products. These herbs are not crafted with chemicals, poked at in a petri dish, or reacted in industrial manufacturing facilities. The herbs we use grow under the sun, with the wind blowing through their leaves and the rain nourishing their roots. No chemical changes to Mother Nature's design has been enacted upon these plants. No GMOs, no pesticides, no herbicides, no irradiation. We feel this is the way herbs should be treated – as living organisms that are perfect just the way they are, without human intervention.

So be it a rainbow colored sea creature from our oceans, or bouquet of flowers in kaleidoscopic colors, Earth has provided for us and we need to respect that. We say No! to chemicals that will harm our pure, healthy bodies and No! to contaminants that will harm the planet. And a big NO! to those major corporations that are trying to pull the wool over our eyes, saying it's okay to mess with the natural, pure organisms that have evolved since the beginning of time. Be like the mantis shrimp – deliver a super-fast sucker punch to the scheming companies by proving that there are healthy, USDA certified organic alternatives to the conventional chemical junk that they've convinced people they need. Be like the mantis shrimp – see the true colors of these companies that are just trying to make a profit, and look at the labels of what you are buying. Be like the mantis shrimp – and thrive.