Awesome Nature

While the footage of this great horned owl taking a swim in Lake Michigan might appear to be a calming sight, there’s more to it than meets the eye – apparently the bird used this technique to escape from a pair of peregrine falcons.

A mullet isn’t just a bad haircut – it’s also the name of a small fish. In this amazing footage captured by BlacktipH Fishing in Florida, we witness thousands of the fish skimming the surface, and their predators thinning the schools.

We often see the Aurora Borealis – and Australis – preserved in time-lapse videos. But they’re much stranger in real time, as shown by photographer Kwon O Chul. He shot this video in Aurora Village in Yellowknife, Canada.

Welcome to Nat Geo Cribs! A colony of wasps have started building a nest on YouTuber Vang Tsal’s window, giving him a great cross-section view of the inhabitants and their nest as it’s made. Also, Vang can never open this window again.

YouTuber M Valenz had a problem with flies in his house, but instead of whipping out a can of Raid or a newspaper, he turned his pet praying mantis into an improvised fly swatter. Yes, we said “pet praying mantis.”

YouTuber Ingela Tanneskog says she waited for a thunderstorm to pass before taking this video so she could film a huge rainbow in peace. Apparently nature had other plans.

TED-Ed’s Anje-Margriet Neutel gives us an overview of the feedback loops present in nature, and how critical they are to maintaining the balance of our ecosystems. Also, we thought Hummus was a Middle Eastern appetizer.

Incredible footage of one of nature’s spectacles – a huge flock of sea birds feeding on fish in the ocean. We can only imagine how awesome – and intimidating – this Hitchcockian sight must have been for those beachgoers.

Andy Thomas combines nature and technology in his “audio life forms”, 3D animations of abstract shapes inspired by plants and animals. Andy uses these shapes to visualize sound, in this case the chirps of a nightingale and a canary.

Eunice aphroditois is one of Mother Nature’s truly awful creations. This predator lies in wait in the ocean floor, taking down its prey with teeth so sharp that it often slices it in half. Oh, and they can grow to 10 feet long.

It sounds like a scene out of a movie, but a father and daughter were whale watching off of Argentina when one swam under their kayak and lifted it. You’re not supposed to touch whales, but we’re not sure it could have been avoided.

William McMaster’s documentary on Jadav Payeng. In a bid to save his island home from erosion, Jadav started planting trees in 1979. His forest now covers 550ha., more than one and a half times the size of New York’s Central Park.

Enrique Pacheco showcases some of nature’s finest artworks: rock formations, caves, canyons and other landscapes molded through erosion. They are beautiful accidents many thousands of years in the making.

Jack Saranthat was driving through central Thailand when he came across a massive flock (or is it a badelynge) of ducks crossing the road in front of him. Honestly, it’s like one of those scenes with the zombies in World War Z.

The storm chasing group Basehunters was able to capture a supercell as it formed, grew and grew some more, until it eventually dissipated in Wyoming. Check out their YouTube page for more awesome videos of extreme weather.

Photographer Nana Trongratanawong captured this amazing GoPro footage as she snorkeled in a Palau lake filled with millions of golden jellyfish. Apparently the stingers on these jellies aren’t powerful enough to harm humans.

This video footage from Australia’s Crocosaurus Cove captures the amazing muscular forms of crocodiles jumping from the water to grab treats off a fishing line. Anyone up for a visit to the Cage of Death?

We were just as amazed to see these Mexican black bears climbing the face or a sheer cliff as Stephanie Latimer was when she captured this amazing footage at Big Bend National Park in Texas. And they do it without ropes.

Daniel Stoupin shows corals and sponges brimming with life in this artificial time-lapse. Daniel focus stacked 150,000 shots to make the video. Thank Daniel by donating to the Australian Marine Conservation Society.

Photographer Vincent Brady made these time-lapse clips of fireflies at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri as well as in Grand Ledge, Michigan. One of the more unusual uses of the technique we’ve seen. You can buy stills on Vincent’s site.

In what seemed to be a scene from a superhero movie, a whirling dust devil threw smoldering tumbleweeds around, then sucked and spread the fire from a controlled burn in Denver. It’s this peaceful whirlwind’s evil brother.

There is nothing common about this octopus, as it shows its smarts and dexterity when presented with a crab inside a glass jar. Later, it manages to enjoy its meal from inside of a beaker, and cram itself into a octopus habitrail.

YouTuber Shaun O’Callaghan used a DJI Phantom quadcopter to take a close look at the mouth of Mount Yasur, an active volcano on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Fortunately the drone and the camera survived the trip.

“It is a life that carries the weight of being. An anticipation of sadness – that one day things will change.” Temujin Doran poignantly juxtaposes the life cycle of mountains with the human experience. BRB, off to hug a mountain.

The second installment of Sheldon Neill and Colin Delehanty’s time-lapse series Project Yosemite. They spent a combined 45 days in the park to shoot the images in this video. The song is M83’s Lower Your Eyelids to Die with the Sun.

What is it with octopi and their interest in cameras? While filming off the coast of Carmel, California, divers David Malvestuto and Warren Murray encountered one cephalopod who really wanted a camera, and didn’t want to let go.