Dr. Burnett, Professor of Biology here at CofC, and David Scholnick rigged a treadmill for shrimp to more accurately simulate a real-world environment vs. just sitting there in a tank – but who would call a “shrimp running on a treadmill” real-life?

“We have a treadmill for blue crabs, and are making one for lobsters too” Dr. Burnett said on The Today Show this morning.

Anyway, here is their short explanation of the process before watching the shrimp exercise to “The Final Countdown”:

The central hypothesis underlying my research is that infectious disease can compromise the respiratory systems of lower vertebrates and invertebrates and thereby limit the ability of animals to sustain and recover from normal activities. Working with colleagues at College of Charleston’s Grice Marine Laboratory and Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, South Carolina, we have demonstrated that in resting animals bacterial infection can compromise normal metabolic function.

Of course, if “The Final Countdown” isn’t your type of music, you can always pick another shrimp on a treadmill video.

With fishing schedules being tightened by states along the coast, Maryland and Virginia’s senators are asking for $20 million in federal aid to satisfy cries for help from their fishermen and seafood processors.

The ‘hen has come home to roost’, and now that marine life is dwindling around the world, those who’ve been busy feeding our insatiable appetites for seafood are the same ones claiming they aren’t making enough money to sustain their lifestyles anymore.

What a lot of tourists don’t realize is that some of the fish they’re eating here in the restaurants lining Shem Creek have actually been shipped in frozen from other locations, either because our supplies have dwindled, or they’re just not native to this area.

The same goes for ‘Maryland blue crabs’ too though. What many people up there don’t understand is that truckloads of those crabs come from right here in S.C., with a handsome profit if they’ve been steamed with some seasoning.

“They don’t get a nice big crab like we do here. … Everybody in Maryland thinks they’re Maryland crabs.” – Charleston.net