From afar, it’s just a lifeless reef area, but once this diver gets closer, an octopus suddenly jumps into view as it deactivates its ‘cloaking mechanism’. The footage you’re about to see was captured by Jonathan Gordon in the Caribbean, and he says: “I dove down to have a look at the shell that you can see just under where the octopus appears and as I approached the octopus came out of hiding. I had literally no idea he was there until I was about a metre away.” Continue reading to watch.
Photo credit: Business Insider
This is officially the 60th confirmed sighting of a megamouth shark in the wild, and it washed ashore on Wednesday morning in Pio Duran, Albay, the Philippines. It’s so rare that many consider it a cryptid, a creature or plant whose existence has been suggested but has not been discovered or documented by the scientific community. Like the other two filter-feeders, it swims with its enormous mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is distinctive for its large head with rubbery lips. It is so unlike any other type of shark that it is usually considered to be the sole extant species in the distinct family Megachasmidae. Click here to view the first image in today’s viral picture gallery. Continue reading to see the five most popular viral videos for today.
In the real world, Spoiled Child Syndrome is characterized by “excessive, self-centered, and immature behavior”, including lack of consideration for other people, recurrent temper tantrums, an inability to handle the delay of gratification, demands for having one’s own way, obstructiveness, and manipulation to get their way. Some geeky cat owners have to deal with this as well, and give in to their demands. Continue reading for more.
Photo credit: Vadim Trunov
Insects, mushrooms, and lizards aren’t synonymous with beauty, but in the hands of Vadim Trunov, a self-taught nature photographer based in Voronezh, Russia, something magical happens. He creates these warm and beautiful moments by strategically placing objects, like berries, directly in front of his unwitting subjects. While some places look to be straight from a fairy tale, all of these shots were taken near his home. Continue reading for more.
Researchers in Antarctica used heavy machinery to drill into 2,400-feet of solid ice, but at those depths, you wouldn’t expect to find any living animals, like fish, right? That’s exactly what they discovered. Scientific American says: “People in the cargo container stared at an image of the sea floor panned out on one of the video monitors, captured by the forward-looking camera. Then someone started to yell and point. All eyes swung to the screen with the down-looking camera. A graceful, undulating shadow glided across its view, tapered front to back like an exclamation point – the shadow cast by a bulb-eyed fish. Then people saw the creature casting that shadow: bluish-brownish-pinkish, as long as a butter knife, its internal organs showing through its translucent body.” Continue reading to see the fish and a strange shrimp they found.
Hide-and-seek is basically a game in which a number of players conceal themselves in the environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one player chosen (designated as being “it”) closing their eyes and counting to a predetermined number while the other players hide. After reaching the number, the player who is “it” attempts to locate all concealed players. These dogs clearly have no idea how this game works. Continue reading to see more.
What could be creepier than a normal viper? A viper with a tail that mimics a real spider. This species of viper endemic is fortunately only found in western Iran. The specific name, urarachnoides refers to this snake’s spider-like tail tip, as does the common name, spider-tailed horned viper. It was known since the 1960s, but the one specimen’s tail was dismissed as a tumor or deformity. Continue reading for another video and more pictures.
The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations. Their covert methods of waging war contrasted the ninja with the samurai, who observed strict rules about honor and combat. The stealthy cats that you’re about to see might just have been ninjas in past lives, especially the one above. Continue reading for more.
Wild lions are dangerous to say the least, but Frikkie Von Solms, a 69-year-old lion caretaker in Southern Africa, befriended Zion, a gentle, tender and loving African lion. This lion was born in captivity to a lioness named Simba, but had to be separated due to fears that his father would kill him. Now, he’s as domesticated as can be, and this video proves it. Solms says: “It was a once in a lifetime experience to grow up with him and learn and live with him through all of the stages of being a lion. People talk about lions like they are just lions but they have personalities, they have humor and laugh. Zion is a gentle giant. He has never attacked humans and I trust him completely.” Continue reading for more pictures.
This looks like a normal sleeping dog at first glance, but once you zoom in on its ear and flip the image, Solid Snake’s face suddenly appears. Gamers know him best as a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of Konami’s Metal Gear series created by Hideo Kojima. Solid Snake’s character is a combination of a spy, mercenary and special operations agent. Unfortunately, this dog is none of those. Continue reading for an up-close look and comparison.