Ospreys are majestic birds of prey whose sharp eyes are almost always cast upon the water--because fish make up nearly 100% of their diet. Thus, they build nests close to the shores of oceans, lakes and estuaries--often atop objects such as telephone poles, platforms, channel markers and tree snags. In many cases, the nests are highly visible and Meg McDonald, of Wild Northwest Beauty, recently captured extraordinary footage showing an osprey pair constructing its nest. What's striking, besides the imagery, is the nest itself: It reveals several long strands and clumps of monofilament fishing line or netting, which represent a... Continue reading

A 28-year-old man was attacked off Hawaii's Kona Coast early Tuesday afternoon by a tiger shark estimated to measure 14 feet. The Kailua-Kona resident, who had not been identified at the time of this post, was bitten on the right thigh and calf as he swam about 100 yards offshore near Kekaha Kai State Park. The man made it to shore, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, and was delivered by helicopter to Kona Community Hospital. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. The state's Department of Land and Natural Resources issued a news release confirming the attack. The agency... Continue reading

There's no official stat for biggest aerial maneuver on the pro surfing tour. But the towering 360 performed Tuesday by John John Florence in Bali was being described by some as the biggest-ever, and it scored a perfect 10. Florence, the 2012 ASP Rookie of the Year, pulled off the remarkable stunt during the opening round of the Oakley Pro Bali, which is in progress at Keramas on Bali, Indonesia. Making it more remarkable is that Florence recently suffered a severe ankle injury, while performing another aerial, and missed the first three competitions on the ASP World Championship Tour. The... Continue reading

The catch of the day last week, for five Florida fishermen, boasted a street value of $2.5 million. Smartly, though, after hauling aboard the giant bale of cocaine, the nervous fishermen contacted local authorities. The bale was floating in the Gulf of Mexico, south of the Destin East Pass. The fishermen hauled it aboard and found that inside were several smaller wrapped packages. (See photo.) The Okaloosa County Sheriff stated in a news release that state and federal law enforcement officers responded to the scene and collected statements from the fishermen. The Okaloosa County Multi-Agency Drug Task Force determined that... Continue reading

A killer whale spotted Thursday at the Coronado Islands, just inside Mexican waters, is a peculiar mammal affectionately nicknamed Mel... or Mysterious Mel. It's the same orca spotted last June and July in the same area--and during those sightings and Thursday's sighting Mel was seen swimming with a large pod of common dolphins. That's what makes Mel so peculiar, since killer whales and common dolphins aren't usually friendly toward one another, and since some types of killer whales prey on dolphins. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the killer whale was photographed by Judy Lawrence, a volunteer for the San... Continue reading

Whatever happened at SeaWorld San Diego on Thursday morning probably was not nearly as impressive as what happened five miles offshore. A humpback whale breached an astonishing 58 times over a span of 90 minutes as passengers aboard the Privateer, out of San Diego Whale Watch, marveled in disbelief. Melissa Panfili Galieti, a naturalist aboard the boat, said the whale was 35 to 40 feet long, probably a small adult. "It was very curious of our vessel, breaching right next to us a few times," the naturalist said. "It even trumpeted a couple of times." Experts who examined the photos... Continue reading

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column: Question: I fish in Mexico and have a question regarding bringing them back to the U.S. I saw a statement on Facebook where the poster said we cannot bring cowcod or fillets into U.S. waters even if we have a signed declaration to present with the fish. Despite the fact cowcod are not legal to possess in California, they are legal to catch in... Continue reading

A woman in the Vancouver suburb of Coquitlam received quite a surprise this week when she opened the front door and witnessed two large black bears brawling in her driveway. She dialed 911. British Columbia conservation officers arrived, and ultimately killed the bears because they were deemed a threat to public safety. Relocating them, officer Cody Ambrose explained in the Global News video report, would simply be relocating the threat. "We don't usually see this," Ambrose said. "It's in a neighborhood on someone's doorstep, so we had to make the decision then and there to destroy them." He added that... Continue reading

Kelly Slater, who is old enough to be the father of several of his fellow competitors on the ASP World Championship Tour, has won the Volcom Fiji Pro and reclaimed the ratings lead. Consider that Slater is 41, in a sport in which competitors often surf multiple heats per day and contend with incredibly powerful surf in each heat. The phenom from Florida beat another aging veteran, 31-year-old Mick Fanning, in the final in six- to eight-foot surf Wednesday morning at Cloudbreak. The victory, Slater's 53rd on the WCT, vaulted him from No. 4 to the top spot in the... Continue reading

Every now and then a photographer snaps a series of photos and later discovers that he or she has captured something remarkable. That was the case for Steve O'Toole, who on Sunday posted to Facebook an image showing a bottlenose dolphin that looks to be tail-walking while wearing a disc of water around its midsection. The "unique water formation," as O'Toole described it, was obviously formed by the swift, gyrating movement of the leaping dolphin. O'Toole, a naturalist for Dana Wharf Whale Watch in Dana Point, Calif., captured the image Sunday afternoon from aboard the Ocean Adventure catamaran. "This particular... Continue reading

Sea lions are notorious fish stealers, but have you ever seen a killer whale swim casually up to a fishing boat and chomp on an angler's hooked halibut? It happened somewhere off Alaska, and the proof is in the accompanying video clip, which posted to Facebook on Saturday by The Alaska Life. (Warning: There is brief profanity at the beginning.) The rare close encounter is impressive, enough so that nearly 4,000 people "liked" the post, and more than 17,000 people shared the clip as of early Monday afternoon. There were no details about where in Alaska this was videotaped, or... Continue reading

The enormous mako shark caught off Southern California last Monday was not pregnant, a necropsy performed Sunday determined. The reason the 1,323.5-pound specimen looked so fat, scientists said, is because it contained significant amounts of sea water, perhaps ingested during its 2-hour struggle with the Texas angler who baited the shark off Huntington Beach. The mako shark also contained "a good mass of marine mammal (seal or sea lion) in there as well," said Chris Lowe, a professor of biological sciences at Cal State Long Beach. Lowe and NOAA Fisheries biologists performed the necropsy. The capture of the shark by... Continue reading

A white-tailed deer with its head stuck in a large plastic jar received a helping hand from a caring Minnesota woman, and likely survived because of it. Janet Murphy, of Hermantown, Minn., noticed the doe which normally frequented her yard had a large, plastic container stuck on its head, preventing it from eating and drinking. "I’m just thankful it could get some air in there," Murphy told the Duluth News Tribune. Murphy contacted the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and was told that she should just let nature take its course. "I would let nature take its course, but this... Continue reading

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column: Question: Pacific halibut have become a sought-after sport fish out of Eureka and Trinidad. I have a question about landing large Pacific halibut, particularly in a relatively small boat. Many people use a type of harpoon with a head that comes off and is tethered to the boat. This prevents the fish from heading down while a rope is run through its gills for... Continue reading

Scientists have released what's believed to be the first-ever deep-sea footage of living oarfish. The serpent-like denizens, which reside at great depths, are presumed responsible for spawning myths of sea monsters among ancient mariners. The footage in the accompanying clip was captured in 2011, via remotely-operated vehicle in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It was released this week, along with four other videos and the publication of a scientific paper. (The full clip is 9:57 long but we've shortened it to begin at the 3:40 mark, where the oarfish is most clearly visible.) The ROV, operated by Mako Technologies and... Continue reading

Recent large swells at Teahupoo in Tahiti produced scores of spectacular wipeouts, but the worst--and saddest--involved a Brazilian photographer on a boat that was nearly swamped by a giant wave. Camila Neves, who can be seen in the middle of the green boat in the accompanying video, tumbled backward and slammed into the bottom of the vessel when it became vertical as its captain tried to motor over the building swell. I emailed Neves on Monday and received a response, from someone else, saying that she remained hospitalized in Papaeete with three broken vertebras. Her accident presumably happened after the... Continue reading

The tarpon was estimated to weigh about 170 pounds, a trophy catch. But as the prized game fish was reeled close to the boat, two bull sharks materialized and tore it to shreds as the fishermen watched helplessly and in amazement. The accompanying video was uploaded three weeks ago by Rapala, but the footage gained traction this week after being shared or pirated by other YouTube users. (Warning, there's lots of fish blood in the footage.) The estimated eight-foot-long tarpon was said to have been hooked off Boca Grande, Florida. Continue reading

A Texas angler on Monday spent more than two hours battling an enormous mako shark off Huntington Beach, and the catch will shatter the world record if it's approved by the International Game Fish Assn. The shortfin mako, landed by Jason Johnston, measured 11-plus feet and tipped the certified scale at New Fishall Bait Co. in Gardena at 1,323.5 pounds. The current record is a 1,221-pound catch made off Chatham, Massachussets, in 2001. Johnston was fishing out of Breakaway Charters in Huntington Harbour. His group was fishing again Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. However, he told KTLA:... Continue reading

Tragedy struck twice over the weekend at Yosemite National Park, where on Saturday a hiker was seen being swept over the 594-foot Nevada Fall, and on Sunday a climber was killed by a falling rock on the East Buttress of El Capitan. On Saturday, Aleh Kalman of Sacramento had been hiking the Mist Trail as part of a church group when he apparently decided to go swimming in the Merced River above Nevada Fall. At about 2:30 p.m., witnesses saw him being swept from about 150 feet behind the precipice to and over the fall. The Merced River had been... Continue reading

There have been an unusually high number of shark sightings by scuba divers at La Jolla Cove this spring, with soupfins and sevengills the most visible. In fact, even when visibility is extremely poor, fairly large sharks can be seen. Bethy Driscoll proved that on Wednesday when she videotaped a close encounter with a sevengill shark. She posted a 32-second clip to her Bethy Scuba Facebook page, in which a large sevengill appears immediately beneath the veteran diver. Driscoll titled the post "Bumped by a Shark" and explained that visibility was only three feet and that she initially thought the... Continue reading

Audubon California Starr Ranch Sanctuary in Orange County today posted video footage of a large uncollared mountain lion as it strolled during the night, on May 25, on the popular Ranch Loop Trail. "We're waiting to hear from the researchers if this is a male with a kink in his tail who's been leaving tracks and scat near the HQ buildings," Starr Ranch stated, along with the footage, on its Facebook page. "Can you see a kink in his tail, near the tip?" There does, indeed, appear to be a kink in the tail. The big cat was photographed by... Continue reading

Meg Roh will go surfing before school on Friday morning, as she always does, but this day will be extra-special because it'll mark a major milestone. The 14-year-old from Dana Point, Calif., will have surfed every single day for two full years. That's 730 consecutive days of riding waves, regardless of conditions and how poorly she might have felt. Four waves a day, minimum. "After two years, my goal is 1,000 days and maybe three years… you never know," she said Thursday, via email. Perhaps as impressive is that the eighth-grader from Ladera Ranch Middle School has maintained a 4.0... Continue reading

In support of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and its effort to keep hunters and anglers informed, Pete Thomas Outdoors, on Thursday or Friday, posts marine biologist Carrie Wilson's weekly California Outdoors Q&A column: Question: Is there any regulation prohibiting a photographer with scuba gear from also scouting out large abalone for a regulation-compliant abalone diver to take? Thanks in advance, and for all you do. (Dave C.) Answer: The photographer in scuba cannot assist the free diver in any way. The action you describe falls within the definition of "take" under the Fish and Game Code and... Continue reading

It's a girl! And a boy! A rare set of living reticulated giraffe twins was born earlier this month at a Texas wildlife refuge. This is only the second set of twin giraffes ever born alive in the United States. The babies were welcomed into the world on May 10 at Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, in San Antonio, Texas. The first-born female calf was 4-1/2 feet tall and weighed 95 pounds. Her brother weighed 125 pounds at birth and stood a foot taller. Their names are African names given to twins -- Wasswa, for first born twin, and Nakato for... Continue reading

A tornado struck in northeastern Milan, Italy, on Wednesday, and you don't need a translator to understand the reactions of those who captured the amateur footage posted above, while riding in a vehicle alongside the twister. Marc Weinberg, a meteorologist for WDBR in Kentucky, shared the video today on his Facebook page and blog. "We all know about the tornado threat that exists to our west and north today, but I am sure you didn't expect me to tell you that a tornado hit Milan, Italy today!" Weinberg wrote. The tornado raged alongside the A4 motorway. There was widespread damage,... Continue reading