British diver is dwarfed as he swims alongside gigantic sperm whale
A family of sperm whales have shown their gentle side by allowing a group of divers to swim alongside them in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.
Known as the world’s largest predators, sperm whales can weigh up to 45 tonnes and measure up to 59ft in length. They can dive up to 3,280ft and have rows of razor-sharp teeth 7in long .
But this group of whales dispelled the Moby Dick myth by letting the team of divers swim just yards away from them.
Picture: Amos Nachoum/Barcroft Media
Among the divers was Brit Andy Morris, a 41-year-old systems analyst, from Stoke Poges, who got within arm’s reach of the giant’s tail. The photographs were captured three miles of the coast of Dominica by wildlife photographer and expedition leader Amos Nachoum, 63.
He tracked the whales using a hydrophone – an underwater microphone that picks up the whale communications.
The divers approached slowly, as sperm whales can be easily scared off and may dive to the ocean depths for up to 90 minutes.
Sperm whales are the world’s largest predators and they can eat as much as one ton of squid per day with their teeth which can measure up to 7in long
Divers found it a ‘great privilege’ to get so close to the family of sperm whales which were spotted just three miles off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean
Mr Amos, from Israel, said: ‘All animals have comfort zones and some of the sperm whale families have become habituated and friendly with us in the water.
‘After all, whales are faster and stronger than any human swimmer.
‘As long as the swimmer is gentle and soft in the water, whales usually will accept our presence with them. That is a great privilege.’
Females and calves stay in Dominica all year round but the male arrives only for mating between January to March.
Sperm whales, which are known to feed on giant squid, were almost hunted to extinction in the late 1960s but have since made a comeback.
Divers saw a baby sperm whale swimming with her mother at Dominica in the Caribbean. Males are only seen with females in mating season from January to March
Picture: Amos Nachoum/Barcroft Media
Lion pride at a waterhole, Kenya
Greg has gone back to Kenya to look for these young cubs. They will be 7 years old now and they will will use their whisker patterns to identify them. Also involved in the wild adventure in Kenya’s Rift Valley is a lion researcher and documentary filmmaker, so look out for forthcoming images and film.
You can read the original story here: http://www.gregdutoit.com/index.php?page=ftf_blood
by Greg Du Toit
http://500px.com/photo/25387945
Leopard Walk
A female Leopard ( Panthera pardus ) named ” Rock Fig jr. ” walking passed our game drive vehicle in the Motswari Private Game Reserve during a recently conducted private photo safari. This wildlife paradise is part of the Timbavati Nature Reserve and one of the best areas in Africa to photograph these elusive cats. Motswari is situated on the Western border of Kruger NP in South Africa.
By Mario Moreno Photography
https://www.facebook.com/mariomorenophotographer
Playing in The Rain
An Elephant calf playing in the rain. Image taken in Cabarceno Nature Park in Spain. The goverment of Cantabria has done an amazing job with this park which has two main roles : one related to the conservation of endangered species and the other one related to environmental education. It is also known for the semi-freedom of their animals and botanical routes. In this park life develops in the best natural environment to the animals that inhabit it. Except for food provided to them, the rest of the activities are marked by their almost total freedom and instinct. Almost all of them trigger fights and the mating season is marked by struggles for control of females and, of course, the rest of their senses are as wild as in their natural habitat.
by Mario Moreno Photography
https://www.facebook.com/mariomorenophotographer
A Cheetah portrait ( Acinonyx jubatus ) captured on the open plains in Kruger National Park.
by Mario Moreno Photography
https://www.facebook.com/mariomorenophotographer
Grooming Geladas
by Marius Coetzee Photography
https://www.facebook.com/mariuscoetzeephotography
Leopard, Okavango Delta, Botswana
Grant Atkinson will be leading a November 2013 photosafari again with Andy Biggs Photo Safaris. This leopard image comes from their trip together last year. Read more here:
http://www.grantatkinson.com/photo-safaris/scheduled-safaris-2013/okavango-delta
by Atkinson Photography and Safaris
https://www.facebook.com/atkinsonphotographyandsafaris
“Baobab sunset” The sun setting at Baines Baobabs in Botswana, these majestic trees are great to see and make for some wonderful landscape images.
by Andrew Schoeman Photography
http://www.andrewschoemanphotography.co.za/
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewSchoemanPhotography
“Left Hook !”
A Couple of Lion cubs playing after feasting on a Buffalo that had been killed the day before at Duba Plains in the Okavango Delta, Duba is a unique destination to see the spectacular interaction between Lion and Buffalo. To join them on Safari to Photograph this amazing spectacle, follow link: http://www.odpsafaris.com/
by Andrew Scoeman Photography
http://www.andrewschoemanphotography.co.za/
https://www.facebook.com/AndrewSchoemanPhotography
Sharks-crossing-south-africa
by Marc Stickler Photography
http://www.marcstickler.at/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marc-Stickler-Photography/111792888878470
White Rhinos, Solio Ranch, Kenya
by Corne Shalkwyk/Premier Safaris
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Premier-Safaris/230111593704515
Tough Nut To Crack!!!
National Geo
Photographer : Patrick Castleberry
Sardine War
by Alexander Safonov
Five-year-old jaguar Nindiri licks a heart-shaped Valentine’s Day treat of frozen beef blood, beef hearts and pieces of meat at the San Diego Zoo
Picture: REUTERS/Tammy Spratt/San Diego Zoo
Alaskan sea otter Yutan swims with a heart-shaped frozen treat at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise amusement park in Yokohama
Picture: TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Meerkats look at a beetroot flavoured love heart at Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling, Scotland
Picture: Andrew Milligan /PA
Another look at poor Joco the cross-eyed lion at the zoo in Erfurt, Germany
Picture: MARC TIRL/AFP/Getty Images
Deers
Submission by Melissa West
Sleeping Lion, South Africa
Photograph by Ande Truman
Stingrays gracefully flying, forming a perfect straight line. Sand bar, Grand Cayman.
Photograph by Nadya Kulagina
Eurasian Otters, Shetland Islands
In the Shetland Islands a mother and two male cubs listen intently to the clicking of the photographer’s camera. The nose of the cub at right had a recent encounter with a crab. Adults don’t live as pairs, and males play no part in raising the young.
Photograph by Charlie Hamilton James
Two polar bears (Ursus maritimus) play in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
Picture: Image Broker / Rex Features
Two lions (Panthera leo) seem to show affection
Picture: Image Broker / Rex Features
Two Alpine marmotts seem to kiss on a mountain in Austria
Picture: Animal Press/ Barcroft Media
Two Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris) ‘kissing’ in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, South Africa
Picture: Nature Picture Library / Rex Features
Gourami (Helostoma temmincki) fish kissing; they do this to gauge strength and establish hierarchy
Picture: Frank Lane Picture Agency Ltd / Rex Features
Two blue budgies pucker up (or should that be pecker up?)
Picture: Animal Press/ Barcroft Media
Pig on Wheels !!
Chris P Bacon, a piglet born without the use of his hind legs, is seen with his new wheelchair at the Eastside Veterinary Hospital in Clermont Florida. The pig’s owner turned the piglet over to a Clermont vet who decided to help. Dr Len Lucero took the pig home and made a wheelchair for him using K’nex toy parts. Chris has outgrown the toy wheelchair, and will soon grow into his new, more permanent and rugged model.
Picture: ZUMA / Rex Features
Llamas on the Run
A bemused householder tries to coax two escaped llamas with a bowl of cat food on a street in Henstridge, Somerset.In the end the owners were summoned to the scene and they rounded the pair up.The duo are family pets at a nearby property but had manage to escape by eating their way through the hedge surrounding their enclosure.
Picture: Tony Collins/BNPS
A gorilla mother holds her week-old baby at Moscow Zoo
Picture: Ivan Sekretarev/AP
Diver Margaux Maes receives a hug from a manatee in Citrus County, Florida
Picture: Ellen Cuylaerts / Barcroft Medi
Swantastic Love
Mute swans (Cygnus olor) form a heart shape during their courtship display, Buckinghamshire
Picture: Frank Lane Picture Agency Ltd / Rex Features
Pair of Lovebirds (Agapornis sp)
Picture: Nature Picture Library / Rex Features
Gorilla mother Jamani and her baby Bomassa roam the Forest Glade exhibit at The North Carolina Zoo
Picture: News & Record, Jerry Wolford/AP
Two black-tailed prairie dogs appear to kiss while grooming in North Dakota, America
Picture: Frank Lane Picture Agency Ltd / Rex Features
A lioness named Lemon picks up one of her three cubs at the zoo in Cali, Colombia
Picture: REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriag
This happy looking Girgentana goat was spotted with his mother in their enclosure at Bergzoo in Halle, Germany
Picture: Action Press / Rex Features
Joco the cross-eyed lion is seen at the zoo in Erfurt, Germany. He was born with strabismus last year at the zoo in Hanover.
Picture: MARC TIRL/AFP/Getty Images
King penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) pair in courtship, Falkland Islands
Picture: Nature Picture Library / Rex Featur
Two meerkats (Suricata suricatta) snuggle up
Picture: Image Broker / Rex Features
Two cockatoos are in the pink
Picture: Animal Press/ Barcroft Media
Golden Forest Rhino, Lake Nakuru, Kenya
The Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species 2010
by Greg Du Toit
Cheeky Raccoon
by Tambako Photography
Oh Behave!!
Stoats Playing
by Black Fox Wildlife Photography
Giraffe Bouquet
The Centre Cannot Hold
by David Gulden
Zebroid/Zorse
A zebroid is the offspring of any cross between a zebra and any other equine: essentially, a zebra hybrid. In most cases, the sire is a zebra stallion. Offspring of a donkey sire and zebra dam, called a zebra hinny, or donkra, do exist but are rare. Wikipedia
Zorse
«Not today darling, I have a headache!
by Tambako Photography
https://www.facebook.com/tambakophotography
World’s oldest wild bird hatches chick at age 62
© Jaymi Heimbuch
A couple years ago we were excited to learn about a 60-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom hatched her 35th chick. Then last year, we were excited to visit Midway Atoll where she nests, and where she was rearing yet another chick. Now this year, miraculously, Wisdom has returned to the atoll — now as the oldest living wild bird as she outlived a Northern Royal albatross named Grandma — and has nested yet again, with her newest chick hatching on February 3rd.
Wisdom’s age puts her at living more than twice as long as the average Laysan albatross. It means that Wisdom has overcome an incredible number of obstacles to survival, not the least of which is the thousands of deadly hooks tied to the lines of industrial fishing vessels. Albatross are often killed as bycatch, becoming snagged on the hooks as they try to grab bait fish when the miles-long lines are dropped in the water. Not only that, but there is also the problem of plastic pollution. Albatross commonly mistake pieces of plastic as food — cigarette lighters look an awful lot like tiny squid to an albatross. Surviving ingestion of plastic, which sits in the stomach and can kill a bird by starvation, alone is a mighty feat. Also, the fact that she is still rearing young may change science’s understanding of these birds.
From The Guardian
“It blows us away that this is a 62-year-old bird and she keeps laying eggs and raising chicks,” said Bruce Peterjohn, chief of the bird banding laboratory at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre in Laurel. “We know that birds will eventually stop reproducing when they’re too old,” he said. “The assumption about albatrosses is it will happen to them, too. But we don’t know where that line is. That, in and of itself, is pretty amazing.”
Courtesy of Treehugger
