Nature Is Metal
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained 📽 by @facundo._.garcia Orcas risk their lives to hunt sea lions at Península Valdés, Argentina, employing a fierce tactic that exploits the region’s rare flat beaches, smooth with pebbles, during high tide to target animals with a high success rate. These beaches are uniquely suited to this hunting style because their gentle slope and slick, rounded pebbles allow orcas to surge onto shore with a tail thrust and wiggle-slide back to safety. High tides provide water depth and wave momentum to support their 12,000-pound bodies and assist retreat, whereas rocky or sandy coasts might beach the orca for good. Dense sea lion colonies, who are vulnerable on land due to clumsy movement, cluster close to the water’s edge on these open shores, enabling the cunning orcas to grab them before they can escape. This strategy’s extreme risk overshadows its effectiveness: if an orca misjudges the high tide’s narrow window, its 12,000-pound body strands on the slick pebbles, and without the water’s buoyancy to keep it afloat, gravity presses the orca’s massive frame downward, gradually compressing the lungs and heart against its ribcage over time, causing organ collapse as tissues are starved of oxygen. This restriction prevents full breaths, leading to progressive oxygen deprivation, while the orca’s body, unable to dissipate the heat of the sun since they are usually underwater, begins to overheat, accelerating dehydration that shuts down vital functions, as seen in a 2022 incident where a pregnant orca died after stranding. Most beaches lack the flat, pebbly terrain, tides you can set a watch to, or dense sea lion colonies required for this maneuver, making the coast of Península Valdés nearly unmatched for this high-stakes hunt, where orcas balance survival against the constant threat of a lethal stranding. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nature Is Metal is powered by you! Did you record a wild video that you would like to get featured here? natureismetal.com/submissions is the absolute best place to send it. Our team checks the submission page daily
15 hours ago
Can I pet that dog
15 hours ago
APEX.
13 hours ago
If reincarnation is real. I hope I can come back as an orca.
14 hours ago
This is prime example why even 2 feet in the ocean is 2 feet 2 deep for me 😂😂😂 we was in cali, and we saw 3 seals pull up 5 feet from people and he dipped out but the locals just swam with em. All im thinking is what eats seals
14 hours ago
“ I’m gonna just dip my feet in “ 🤣🤣
15 hours ago
Son hermosas, y grandes depredadores alfa 🙌
15 hours ago
ARRR GENNN TINAAA ARRR GENNN TINAAA
15 hours ago
their lips are sealed
14 hours ago
19,000 psi
9 hours ago
Humans see a dorsal fin in the water and we like “nahhhh I’m out” sea lions and seals see dorsal fins and they like…”certainly that thing not tryna kill me”
14 hours ago
ARHENTINA!
15 hours ago
La cara contra la piedra y la arena en busca de piel y huesos
14 hours ago
Groso @facundo._.garcia
14 hours ago
When you drop your Dodger Dog in the stands and you have to crawl through the beer under the seats to get it!
15 hours ago
Is that tune ‘ talk show host’? Radio head?
A Luxury Hotels & Resorts Magazine
A blend of luxury and “feels-like-home” atmosphere, wrapped in Far Eastern charm.🌺 @malagarden The kind of place where time slows down, and every guest feels special. Right by the lake Balaton.🌊 #malagardenhotel #malagardensiofok #boutiquehotel #luxuryhotel #balaton #lakebalaton #luxuryhotelrooms #hotelgoals #wellnesshotel
Mads Peter Iversen Photography
I’ve been photographing these trees over the past years and they’re incredible for both sunrise and during a morning with fog or even in gorgeous moody conditions. Sometimes these trees are actually located just outside my room on the accommodation that we use! This year we photographed them both during foggy mornings and a morning where we aligned the sunrise with the trees. Alignments are actually one of the easiest ways to make interesting compositions - one of the compositions techniques I cover in my latest video on YouTube. And if you wanna learn how to benefit from light like this, my ebook on light in landscape photography is the one you waltz with minimal text and tons of examples it’s easy to read. There is a link in my bio. Happy learning! 🤓