A wildlife cinematographer off the coast of Magnetic Island, Australia, has shared mind-blowing footage of a winghead shark hunting at the water’s surface.
“I can’t believe I was able to film this,” says aerial wildlife cinematographer Oliver Scheele on Instagram. “This is not your typical hammerhead.”
This species has the widest cephalofoil (the hammer-shaped head) of any hammerhead shark species.
“The lateral wing-like extensions form the characteristic ‘hammer’ shape called a cephalofoil, which can reach almost half of the total length of the winghead shark’s body!” says the Australian Museum on its website.
“Along the front of their cephalofoil you can find another one of the winghead shark’s distinguishing features: a pair of massive nostrils,” they add. “These nostrils are enormously expanded compared to other hammerheads, each extending twice as long as the width of the shark’s mouth.”
“Winghead sharks are extremely cryptic, rarely seen – often living in murky waters and are critically endangered,” adds Scheele. “I am beyond words in how privileged I feel to be able to capture such an amazing event.”
- Giant squid detected in deep-sea canyon off coast of Australia
- Colossal squid filmed alive in deep ocean for the first time ever
In the footage, the shark twists and turns through the water as it tries to catch a small fish, sometimes spinning in circles as its prey desperately tries to swim away.
“My heart raced as I was filming this, bursts of speed, total unpredictability, I managed to catch it all,” says Scheele.
He hopes that his incredible drone footage will help people learn about and even fall in love with these animals and be inspired to protect them, adding: “because they need it.”
Image and video credit: Aerial wildlife cinematographer Oliver Scheele (Snorkeldownunder)
More amazing wildlife stories from around the world
- Drone captures incredible 10-tonne whale rescue in Australia
- NASA officials sent over 2,000 baby jellyfish into space. Tens of thousands more came back to Earth
- “I couldn’t make sense of what I was looking at." Submarine pilot recalls first sighting of super-rare phantom jelly
- Scientists embark on 1,200km 'megatransect' of Patagonian kelp forests. What they find could be crucial
