Video pictures of a octopus riding on the back of a shark The global audience has been taught since it was published by researchers at Auckland University earlier this week.
It New Zealand The Cohort of Ocean Experts saw the unlikely duo, an octopus Maori put on a Mako Shortfin shark, in the Gulf of Hauraki during the summer of 2023.
The researchers were looking for a food frenzy when they saw the couple mounting the tandem waves and played them playfully « Sharktopus ».
According to A recent post on the blog For Rochelle Constantine, a biological science professor at the University of Auckland and one of the researchers who discovered the unusual view, the team first saw a large dorsal fin, which indicated a shark in its surroundings. When inspecting it closer, they noticed a « orange patch on the head ».
At first they assumed that it was an injury or that the shark had hit a buoy. To confirm his suspicions, the team launched a drone and dropped a GoPro camera in the water. It was when they discovered the couple.
« A octopus was put on top of the shark’s head, clinging to his tentacles, » Constantine wrote.
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« This » Sharktopus « was a mysterious find, » he added. « The octopus are mostly in the seabed, while the Mako Shortfin sharks do not favor the background. »
The octopus opted for a fast walk, explained, as the Mako short film is the fastest shark species, swimming up to 50 km/h.
Constantine’s expertise area is the golf Hauraki-tīkapa Moana, te moananui-ā-tull-on-on-on-on the sharks during the summer months.
Gulf is inhabited and visited by many types of sharks, including bronze whalers, who are often seen by divers and fishermen in shallow water and, more often, smooth hammer heads.
Large ocean species open such as dark shark, blue shark and Shortfin Mako, « also known as pulpus taxi, » they joked, they are increasingly present in the region.
A blue shark. Photo of Riley Elliott/ University of Auckland.
Photo of Riley Elliott/ University of Auckland
Less is known about smaller sharks near the seabed, such as lemon fish and native sharks, but global shark populations are in a strong descent, due to overfishing fishing, climate change and low reproductive rates.
Constantine says that the « Sharktopus » encounter is a « memory of the wonders of the ocean ».
« One of the best things to be a marine scientist is that you never know what you could see in the sea. Supporting conservation initiatives, we can help to ensure that these extraordinary moments continue to happen, » he concluded.
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