#marine

#marine

World’s First Footage Of Killer Whales Hunting Great WhitesWell, to be honest, we thought this was funny but also surprising at the same time. Also a bit disconcerting. Why? It’s because great white sharks are known predators.You’re not really gonna log in on the Internet, type the name of said animal, and expect to see a video of them being hunted down by other sea animals, right? Yet, here we are. A video was posted online where biology boffins observed killer whales preying on white sharks. The footage is part of a study in South Africa, where researchers observed “evidence of a flight response,” which left all of us regular Internet citizens also on our toes. The paper provides extra context for this amazing video. According to the researchers involved, this event occurred on 16 May 2022, around 2:00 and 3:00 PM when pilot D.Archer of Mossel Bay Helicopters saw two white sharks being killed by killer whales. He was able to take short video clips and images using a Samsung S21 cell phone. “Given the overlap in time and area, we assumed it was the same group captured by the drone footage,” the paper explained. “Two video sequences at 2:07 and 2:27 PM showed two different killer whales (Starboard in the first clip) closely following large white sharks at <1 killer whale body length. In both clips, the sharks displayed evasive behaviors, circling back tightly with the whale following, but both moving slowly.”Aside from the shock factor, this behavior in sharks has never been witnessed before. According to lead author Alison Towner, it was “certainly never seen from the air.” Image credit: Felix Rottmann#whales #orcas #killerwhales #greatwhites #sharks #biology #marine #sea 

Amazing Photos of Cold-Water Invertebrates by Marine Biologist Alexander SemenovThese are absolutely stunning!At first glance, one might think that the images were taken by a drone or a robot during an expedition and then edited or processed for better quality. Nope.It was all the work of marine biologist Alexander Semenov. In an article he wrote for Nature,  he explained how he started taking these awe-inspiring photos. Semenov got obsessed with the beauty of the animals living in the waters of the White Sea in Primosrskiy, Russia. Semenov then decided to start taking photos of them to capture their unique beauty and strangeness. The marine biologist shared that he pulled invertebrates out of the water and took pictures of them in the laboratory without special lighting. After a few experimental setups to further enhance the quality of his images, he was able to find his groove. Semenov now has the compilation of cold-water invertebrates, some of the least-photographed creatures in the world. Check out more of his stunning work below!Image credit: Alexander Semenov#marine #animals #invertebrates #photography #science 