SEE THE PHOTOS: Did you see the 'SuperMoon' on Saturday night?

Henry Kacprzyk sees life from the moon.

When it's full, the sea otters at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium bark at one another and play in the water, and the reptiles become more active, he said. Overall, zoo life is more, well, alive.

"Full moons bring light and activity and socialization," said Kacprzyk, curator of Kids Kingdom and Reptiles at the Highland Park zoo. "I have an open mind, and I think there is still so much we have to learn about the moon and its effect on people and animals."

Astronomers, astrologists and amateur scientists are abuzz on Internet chat sites this week about Saturday's "SuperMoon," a phenomenon that brings the moon to its closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit in the past 18 years.

The moon's orbit around Earth is slightly elliptical, and when the moon is at the near point it is called a lunar perigee. But astrology and astronomy fans online dubbed the lunar event a "SuperMoon," because it is full. Chat sites are full of doomsday predictions that the unusually bright moon will spawn floods, tsunamis, earthquakes and tornadoes.

But NASA astronomer Dave Williams said the bright, full moon will be that and nothing more.

"It's really nothing special," Williams said. "It's just a fuller moon than normal, but it would really be reaching to say it will cause climate mayhem."

The moon will be only a few thousand miles, or about 2 percent, closer to Earth than it has been in almost two decades, Williams said.

"When you consider the moon's orbit, that's nothing," he said. "It's a minuscule amount. The moon will be this close to the Earth again. It's nothing to panic about."

But Kacprzyk, law-enforcement officers and others say a robust moon typically triggers unusual behavior in humans, an uptick in crime and increased activity in animals.

"After 42 years in law enforcement, there is no doubt that a full moon has an effect on people, not just criminals," said Shaler police Chief Jeff Gally. "I have observed some very strange behavior from people who are normally OK until the full moon arrives. It may not impact crime directly, but it definitely impacts bizarre behavior."

Diane Richard, spokeswoman for Pittsburgh police, said she doesn't know whether the moon's effect on criminal behavior is "superstition or a proven truism," but "there does seem to be an overly active period of time when the calls for service seem to increase during the full moon lunar cycle."

"Law-enforcement officers all over the world should pray that the criminals be on their best behavior during this lunar anomaly," Richard said.

Kacprzyk said snakes increase their activity level during full moon cycles, but that could be because nighttime hours are brighter.

"It's hard to say whether it's the light or if they are more active just because of the pull of the moon," Kacprzyk said, as a Honduran milk snake curled around his arms. "The perpetual symbol of the Southwest is a coyote baying at the moon, but that's a communication tool for coyotes. It's a romantic image to think it's because of the full moon affecting the animal."

Kacprzyk said he notices the zoo's sea otters playing during full moon cycles instead of sleeping on the enclosure's beach. "Aquatic animals are affected more because the gravitational pull of the moon affects all bodies of water," he said.