ATHABASCA — Who knew there are crustaceans who use sound to stun their prey? Or ones who use venom?
Athabasca University professor emeritus Robert Holmberg, who has a doctorate in biology does and they will be part of his presentation for Science Outreach – Athabasca on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. being held over Zoom.
“It's two groups of crustaceans that they move so quickly with their appendages that they create gas bubbles in the water and then these gas bubbles cavitate or implode,” Holmberg said in a Feb. 11 interview. “And then when they implode, they produce a great deal of heat, sound and light. The light doesn't do anything, but the sound is over 200 decibels within four centimetres so, it doesn't go very far because water absorbs the energy, but the heat goes over 4,000 degrees Celsius.”
Holmberg said more and more is being discovered about crustaceans as science and technology advances where researchers can go deeper and spend longer in the depths of the oceans.
“It's going to be a talk about all of the major groups of crustaceans, and I have some pretty pictures. So, there'll be those things, but most people don't deal much with crustaceans, other than they buy some shrimp or some lobster, occasionally crab in the store, in a restaurant,” he said. “But all three of those terms, shrimp, lobster and crabs are used in the crustaceans for various groups that are not really closely related.”
Part of the presentation will include how many crustaceans live in Alberta, and it is more than you may think.
“I'm going to go through the crustaceans that we have in in Alberta so that people have an idea of the variety that we do have and again, most people won't even recognize what we do have as occurring in the province because one of them is only found in caves in the eastern Rockies,” he said.
It is recommended people log into the presentation 10 to 15 minutes early on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. and there will be a question and answer period after.
More information and the Zoom link can be found at http://scienceoutreach.ab.ca/events/upcoming/
