They say not to approach seals at the beach, but when one comes up and wants to hang out, there's not a lot you can do to keep it away. This guy has somehow acquired the mystical animal magnetism of a Disney Princess, and we're jealous. That or he smells like food.
The good news in this rather unnerving scenario is that the hammerhead shark actually wasn't trying to swoop in on the swimmer, but instead the fish/ray that was nearby. On top of that, the guy seems to be completely oblivious to the behemoth that was in his close proximity. Maybe it was that very calm that came through his obliviousness that kept him safe.
It only takes a couple of good nature documentaries to realize that whales are majestic creatures. Their size and grace is unmatched by almost anything else on planet earth, let alone in the ocean. That said, they're not exactly the most approachable of animals and it can't always be a fun experience being up close and personal with them.
This is what one anonymous woman found out in a video that has recently gone viral. Lounging in the sea outside a small boat, a huge whale suddenly leaps out of the water only feet in front of her and makes terrifying sounds before she jumps up back to safety. Despite the potentially trauma inducing event and the horrified reaction of many social media users, she seems happy to have been able to have the encounter with the creature. It also could have gone a lot worse — at least she was lucky to avoid being swallowed.
The girl in the background is far too entertained by what appears to be quite the panic-inducing predicament. However, there were some other folks in the comments section that suggested this squid was injured, and that that's why it was hanging around the surface. Either way, the idea of falling off your surfboard and into the squid's home court is just a little bit unsettling.
As anyone who is not living under a rock is aware, this weekend saw part of the Gulf of Mexico set on fire. An underwater gas leak engulfed part of a pipeline in flames, taking more than five hours to put out and providing the world with the startling image of two opposing compounds at war with one another.
Naturally, the internet decided that such an eye-catchingly dystopian event was the ideal springboard for a smorgasbord memes of varying degrees of derangement. After all, what use is the planet burning if you can't get a few likes out of it?
While the blaze is now reportedly under control, the footage remains an unsettling reminder of how much modern society has managed to screw up the environment, as well as a touchstone for anybody looking for their five minutes of Twitter fame. As a wise dog in a hat once said, this is fine.
A lobster diver by the name of Michael Packard from Massachusetts ended up enduring quite the historical experience. Specifically, Packard was consumed by a whale, and then lived to tell the tale. And with this being the era of everything being available online, we're actually fortunate enough to be able to read his account of what the whole experience was like. Pretty dang cool.
Clearly this octopus is a good boi. He decided to go ahead and swim ashore to try and score some pets from some beachgoers. It's pretty cute watching the octopus accomplish his mission, and then swim back off into the sunset.
Did you know that manatees have no natural predators and can even be found peacefully coexisting with alligators?? Neither did we. Turns out, there are a ton of super cool manatee facts that we had no clue about! We love learning more about the earth and all the amazing creatures that call it home. Let's have a go!
Let's learn more here from this PBS article on Manatee facts! These hugeee sea creatures are the most awwdorably gentle giants we have ever seen! They swim slowly through the waters, taking their time without a care in the world. Check out the below video to get a brief overview of the cute wholesome creatures called manatees, and stick around for all the fun facts!
Here's something that one doesn't see every day - Mariah Carey swimming with dolphins, randomly deciding to hit an extremely high note, because why not(?), and the dolphin losing its heckin' mind. The number of times we looped this video is a bit insane, not gonna lie. It's just one of the most amazing things that we've seen dolphins do, and we've seen dolphins do so many amazing thingsbefore.
We've seen an adorable dolphin bringing a human gifts from the bottom of the ocean, we've seen so many dolphins become friends with dogs, we've even seen a dolphin be amazed by a girl's gymnastics skills. But we have never - and we mean ever - seen a dolphin be shook at having a human communicate with it in its own language lol. And twitter has been freaking out about it too.
And there you have it: easily the most calming thing to have witnessed throughout the week thus far. Those eyes, man.
Those Sunfishes are something else, man. They look like they're literally not of this dimension. Or like some aliens just dropped them off on planet earth to see how they'd fare. Also, can we take a moment of appreciation for the awesome amount of chill that sunfishes have.
The sea is just too big for people not to have complicated feelings about, especially when it comes to things like the still on-patrol submarines of the U.S. Navy. There are tales of hallucinations, weird natural events, and rare sightings among the many creepy things people saw at sea. Maybe it's the isolation. Maybe it's the constant bobbing and omnipresent exhaustion of anyone working at sea. Whatever it is, weird stuff happens out there.
Just in case you weren't already aware, Megalodons are an extinct species of shark that ranged between 15 and 18 metres. Basically, those underwater tanks were so massive and generally physically formidable that they'd have wreaked such havoc on blue whales that we'd end up seeing their population die off/get physically smaller for survival. Obviously, blue whales are huge. So, just the thought of that is a tad bit unsettling. Outside of what the Megalodons would do the ocean's modern day ecosystem, there does seem to be a lot of room for a creative take on some kind of Megalodon-inspired horror film. Hence, this Tumblr thread.
Happy National Dolphin Day, everyone! It's time to give some love to one of the most underappreciated animals in our opinion - the dolphin. You may wonder why we think this is such an underappreciated animal, considering so many people know about it and think it's adorable - which it is! - but people may know about dolphins, they don't know nearly enough about what's awesome about them.
So, you're about to give some love to one of the friendliest animals while also learning some amusing and awesome facts about them. So, happy National Dolphin Day, and may your week be flippin' fantastic!
Tsunamis are absolutely mortifying. There's something hard wired into our DNA that basically just trembles in fear whenever you see one in action. The sheer power of those tsunamis is at once humbling and traumatizing. We're just grateful that these guys were able to get out of that intense situation safely.
Thank you to the ever mystifying realm that is the Tumblr world. Did you wake up today thinking that you'd discover sea urchins have in fact been known to rock mini hats? No, no probably not. But here we are. That last bit at the end of the thread about how different sea urchins would try on the hats is a wonderfully wholesome little twist as well.
