He’s so cute!
By Caitlin Jill Anders
Published on April 21, 2023 at 6:00 AM
Brendan “Cygnus” James is an experienced macro photographer in Australia who specializes in taking photos of bugs, frogs, lizards and other similar creatures. He’s always looking for the next interesting spider or a shocking snake, and he’s absolutely thrilled each time he finds one.
James has a wishlist of different species he hopes to photograph. One day, he was out on a photography trip, and when he suddenly realized a tiny twig was actually staring at him, he knew he was about to check a species off the list.
The Acroaspis twig mimic orb weaver is a very elusive species of spider. Not a ton is known about them because of their sneaky nature, which involves blending in and pretending to be just another twig blowing in the breeze in order to avoid predators.
James knew all his searching had been worth it when he saw all that personality in one tiny face.
There are many different types of orb weaver spiders, and each is unique in the way they look and behave. They all have their quirks — but the Acroaspis twig mimic orb weaver may be the cutest and quirkiest one of all.
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Read Full Article
- Daily Dodo
- Wildlife
Whale Watching Tour Sees Floating Pile Of Trash — With Someone Trapped Inside
Can you guess what it was?
By Alana Francis-Crow
A few years ago, Simon Lorenz, owner of marine tour company Insider Divers, led a group through the waters surrounding Sri Lanka. While he and the guests were looking for whales, they noticed a pile of debris floating by.
Whenever Lorenz comes across a clump of trash in the ocean, he makes sure to pause and observe it, because there are often fish or other marine animals around them. But that day, Lorenz noticed something strange about the debris.
“There was this huge shell in there,” Lorenz said in a video for The Dodo.
As he looked closer, he realized the shell belonged to an olive ridley sea turtle.
“You could see the flippers of the turtle splashing at the surface,” Lorenz said. “I could already see there was something wrong.”
It quickly became clear to Lorenz that the turtle was hopelessly entangled in a fishing net. Unfortunately, the turtle’s predicament is all too common — every year, thousands of marine animals get entangled in discarded fishing nets known as ghost nets, which often leads to serious injury or death.
Thankfully for this turtle, though, a group of people who wanted to help her spotted her just in time. Lorenz asked one of the trip’s guides to jump into the water and try to cut the turtle free with his knife.
The net the turtle was stuck in was thick and coiled tightly around the animal’s body, so it was difficult for the man to cut through it. Even as the man sawed away at the ropes, the turtle appeared to understand that he was trying to help her.
“The turtle seemed very calm and wanting our help,” Lorenz said. “She wasn’t too stressed out.”
As the guide worked to free the turtle, he realized he couldn’t do it alone. The tour’s guests, eager to help, jumped into the water to steady the animal while the guide continued cutting away the net.
After nearly 40 minutes of effort, the turtle was finally untangled from the ropes.
“[H]e made sure there was no net left and no injuries, and off she swam,” Lorenz said.
Thanks to the help the turtle received, she got a second chance at life and will spend the rest of her days swimming freely in the open ocean.
“It was a really good feeling to help this animal,” Lorenz said.
Related
Woman Finds Shell Full Of ‘Bubbles’ — Then Realizes They’re About To Hatch
Can you guess what they were?
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