If you’re like the rest of the world and downloaded Tik Tok as a joke only to become inexplicably obsessed, you probably know exactly who I’m talking about. But for those of you who have lives, let me introduce you to some of the purest and weirdest content in the world: Jake the shrimp parasite guy.
Jake Colvin started posting ocean videos on Tik Tok in March last year, switching between educating his viewers about the ocean, posting weird looking animals, and saving jellyfish and crabs that were drying out on the sand. There’s something about watching a guy wander around beaches rescuing stray crabs and digging through sand for worms that really tickles my fancy.
@jake.pnwWatch until the end! 🌊 #foryou♬ Follow If You Love Ocean Animals – jake.pnw
Then Jake started posting videos of himself rescuing little mud shrimp who were infected with these alien looking parasites. They’re an invasive species in America and hang out under the gill flaps of the shrimp, feeding on their blood. In some of the videos, there’s a little wormy male parasite stuck to the bigger female and it’s real nasty, but watching them get peeled off is just so satisfying. Look, I don’t know how to explain it, just watch the video.
@jake.pnwNoodles the Shrimp 🦐 #upogebiapugettensis #orthionegriffenis #shrimp #animals #nature #satisfying♬ original sound – jake.pnw
It’s so gross but he named it Noodles. NOODLES. You can’t look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t care about the wellbeing of little Noodles.
I think it’s just so sweet that a guy is spending his time going around beaches removing parasites from shrimp he gives names to. It’s got all the grossness of a pimple popping video combined with the wholesomeness of someone making a positive difference in the world.
He has 3.1 million Tik Tok subscribers and upwards of 50 millions views on so I’m not alone here. Many a person has found themselves 20 minutes deep into a shrimp parasite removal video hole. Don’t judge me.
how did i go from watching cute aminals to shrimp parasite removals
— SUKI 🐉 (@LMCVXO) February 5, 2020
There’s a TikTok account that is just a young dude who loves ocean animals and removes parasites from shrimp and he always thanks VSCO girls for caring about the ocean and it’s so wholesome and probably my favor account.
— Kalhan (@KalhanR) September 17, 2019
He still posts videos of other ocean animals, like this little salamander rescue that got almost 7 million views.
@jake.pnwUnexpected Rescue! 🦎 #animals #nature #beach #oregon #rescue #sksksk #sad♬ My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme from “Titanic”) – Céline Dion
Not only do we get the boost of serotonin that comes with weirdly satisfying/gross videos, but we get to see someone who’s really passionate about something. Jake just really loves the ocean! He cares about these little shrimp when most people wouldn’t even give them a second thought. The world can seem really dark sometimes and a lot of people feel like there’s no way to fight all the bad things that happen. But watching a guy on the other side of the world save a shrimp’s life reminds us of the shared humanity we all have to care about the little things. It might not feel like much, but for the shrimp, it means everything.
Image Source: Tik Tok, Twitter
