An underwater photographer in Australia was following a sea dragon carrying eggs during a rough night dive when he was surprised by a huge stingray.
The spectacular dive was “one to remember,” says photographer Sam Glenn-Smith on Instagram. Despite challenging conditions, he had taken to the water to try to get photos of male weedy seadragons carrying their clutch of precious pink eggs.
“Visibility and swell were shocking but the allure of fresh eggs on the seadragons was too much to resist,” he says.
In the video, a beautiful pink, blue and yellow dragon hovers gracefully in front of the camera while Glenn-Smith struggles to steady the frame as the surge pulls him left and right. “I found this gorgeous dragon and was locked in filming it, riding the surge back and forth,” he says. “Safe to say I did not see the large smooth stingray approaching.”
Out of nowhere, a huge ray swoops past, barrelling straight towards the camera before swishing out of sight. Glenn-Smith adds: “It certainly gave me the shock of a lifetime.”
Video and image credit: Sam Glenn-Smith
More amazing wildlife stories from around the world
- It bites its own tail to become a brutal spiked wheel: Is this nature’s bizarrest defence mechanism?
- It looks like a spider and moves like a spider – but this is no spider
- Researchers track 24 giant manta rays into the deep and discover amazing new behaviour
- Giant deep-sea beasts aren’t just the stuff of legend – here’s how they got so massive
