Mantis shrimp delivers painful blow to kayak fisherman
Mantis shrimp delivers painful blow to kayak fisherman

“Supposedly mantis shrimp has the most powerful punch in the animal kingdom and I just felt it.”

The mantis shrimp is known as “The Thumb Splitter” as its punch has the same acceleration as a 22-caliber bullet, delivering a blow of 15,000 newtons, a force equal to more than 2,500 times the shrimp’s weight. Those figures are measured underwater but its still quite dangerous above the surface as evidenced by this kayak fisherman who took a punch to his neoprene booty and ended up with a puncture wound.

For an animal roughly the size of a human hand these little critters can deliver a devastating blow earning their reputation that they should not be messed with. Painful lesson learned by this kayak fisherman that he won’t soon be making again.

Tim Konrad, founder of Unofficial Networks, is a skier with over 20 years in the ski industry. Starting the blog in 2006 from Lake Tahoe with his brother John, the website has grown into one of the world’s...