Jarring Nature Photos

Hairless Chimp

As a result of alopecia, this chimp lost all of his hair. This incredible photo shows just how muscular chimps really are. A number of studies have suggested that pound-for-pound, chimpanzees could be as much as 3 to nearly 5 times stronger than a human man.

Wave Swallowing a Lighthouse

This incredible image shows a wave that looks to be swallowing a lighthouse with a man standing outside. This scene was captured in 1989 by photographer, Jean Guichard off the west coast of Northern France. A front of low pressure coming from Ireland brought gale-force winds and huge waves of 20 to 30 meters creating the setting for this spectacular image.

Incredibly Rare Irrawaddy Dolphin

A rare Irrawaddy Dolphin, only 92 are estimated to still exist. These dolphins have a bulging forehead, short beak, and 12-19 teeth on each side of both jaws. Irrawaddy dolphins transition between saltwater and freshwater. The can weigh up to 400 lbs (181 kg) and can reach lengths up to 8 ft (2.4 m). They are considered to be slow swimmers

Lightning Tree

This incredible photo captures a tree after it was apparently struck by lightning. As you can seem the tree is burning from the inside out. This phenomenon is not that uncommon. Hollow trees act like a natural chimney which can accelerate the burning inside and leave little evidence outside.

World’s Largest Eagle

You’re looking at a harpy eagle, the world’s largest eagle. They are found throughout South America and wingspan of up to six and a half feet wide. They are considered the most powerful raptors in the Amazon. They prey on species as big as monkeys, sloths and even deer!

Same Humpback Photographed 35 Years Apart

These incredible photos show a humpback whale’s tail captured in 1985 and then again in 2020. Humpbacks live 80-90 years according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The grow to 60 feet long and 80,000 pounds while eating 3000 pounds of food per day.

Baby Gorilla and Baby Chimp

Photographer Michael Poliza captured this photo of a young gorilla and chimp playing together. It’s hard to say if they will remain friends as they grow older. It could depend on the type of gorilla, some are very territorial and aggressive. They also grow much larger than chimps and are used to rough-housing. Easter gorillas are the largest living primate. A full-grown male eastern gorilla typically weighs 140–205.5 kg (309–453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright.

Baby Swordfish

This is a baby swordfish. It’s incredible to think but that tiny fish can grow to be over 1000 pounds! Billfish like this come in a variety of species such as sailfish, sawfish, swordfish and marlin. The largest marlin ever caught on rod and real weighed 1,560 pounds and measured 14 feet, 6 inches in length, however, there are tales of a longliner catching a marlin off of Venezuela that weighed over 4500 lbs, in 1976. Apparently, it was so large it had to be cut into three pieces to be weighed. There is a replica at the marina entrance of the Cultural Pavillion of the Republic.

Newborn Flying Fox Clinging To Mother

Here’s a newborn Indian flying fox clinging to her mother’s belly. Newborns can’t fly on their own for several months. There are more than 60 species of flying foxes across Asia, Australia, Africa, and assorted Pacific islands. The largest have 5.25 foot wingspans. They are mostly vegetarian and can’t echolocate. They mate upside down and colonies can be 200,000 thousand strong.

Melanistic and Albino Alligators

Melanism is a condition in which an animal is morphologically dark due to the unusually high deposition of melanin. According to an internet search, there are less than 20 melanistic alligators known to exist in the world. There are less than 300 albino alligators known to exist.

Whale Pregnant vs. Not Pregnant

This whale became well known after her young calf passed away and she carried the dead calf for 17 days and over 1000 miles. She was spotted again a year later but this time she was pregnant once again. You should be able to notice that she is wider in the photo on the right.

Tippi Hedren’s Tiger

You might be familiar with actress, Dakota Johnson. This is a photo of her grandmother and one of her many tigers. At one point she had around 60 lions and tigers. It was last reported that she still has 13 or 14 lions and tigers living with her. She’s currently 91 years old!

Humpback Whale Opening Its Mouth

Humpbacks are baleen whales meaning they have these bristly plates rather than teeth. The purpose of baleen plates is to filter and trap the whale’s prey. With humpbacks, their diet mainly consists of krill and small fish. They eat around 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of food per day.

Dinosaurs Among Us?

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to the dinosaurs, take a look at this. Birds evolved from theropods, a group of meat-eating dinosaurs. That’s the same group that Tyrannosaurus rex belonged to. The oldest bird fossils are about 150 million years old!

Goats Climbing a Brick Wall

How are these goats doing this? Goats are known for climbing difficult terrain but this just seems impossible. Their hooves are split into two sections which allows them to spread the halves to grip a larger surface. The bottoms of their hooves have rubbery pads, like shoe soles.

Marmot vs. Tibetan Fox

This once-in-a-lifetime photo was taken by Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao. He received the  London National History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 2019. This image captures the sheer terror of a marmot upon encountering a Tibetan fox.

Mother Wolf Teaching Cubs to Howl

This incredible photo captured a mother wolf teaching her cubs to howl. Wolves of course howl to communicate with other wolves. It can even help a lost wolf find its way home. A wolf separated from its pack uses a “lonesome howl” — a shortened call that rises in pitch. A wolf’s howls can be heard 6-7 mile away!

Diver and Ocean Sunfish

The Ocean sunfish, also called Mola Mola, is enormous. They can weigh from 540 to 2,205 Ibs (247-1000 kg) and grow up to 5.9ft, making them one of the heaviest known bony fish on earth. They prefer temperate and tropical water. You can find them between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Megalodon vs. Great White Shark

Sometimes it’s hard to fathom just how large ancient megalodons were. This photo shows a comparison between a megalodon and the modern-day great white shark. So how large were they? They are presumed to have reached a length of 60 feet and a weight over 40,000 pounds! Scientists claim it is the largest predator to have ever existed on earth.

What a Kangaroo’s Foot Looks Like

You’re looking at the foot from a kangaroo’s large back leg. Kangaroos have four or five toes. If present, the first toe is extremely small, while the second and third toes are fused together. One other thing – kangaroos have a bone-shattering kicking force of over 800 Pounds-of-force Per Square-inch (PSI).

Icy Seal Whiskers

While animals like cats and rats have around 200 nerve endings in each whisker, seals have an amazing 1,500. This allows them to find and catch fish, even without the use of sight. Scientists claim their whiskers allow them to size up a herring down to the centimeter.

Lion Loses Tooth To Giraffe Kick

This incredible photo show a lion after losing a canine tooth due to a giraffe’s kick. It’s estimated giraffe  can generate an impact of 2,000 Pounds-of-force Per Square-inch (PSI). They can also kick in any direction. They have been known to kill lions with their kicks.

Bison Struck By Lightning

This bison survived a lightning strike in 2013 and was given the name, Sparky. He became a symbol for the strength and endurance of his species. He went on to live full life, roaming the prairie in Iowa’s Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. Sparky fathered three calves prior to the strike.

North Atlantic Right Whale Tangled At Sea

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans reported sighting another North Atlantic right whale ensnared in fishing gear in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, specifically near the Magdalen Islands. The observation occurred approximately 56 miles northwest of Etang du Nord port. The agency evaluated various disentanglement strategies, given the whale’s remote location.

Angler Fish Washed Ashore

It’s extremely rare to see an anglerfish outside of the deep ocean but this one was found at Crystal Cove State Park in California.  Anglerfish are typically found at ocean depths around 3,000 feet. The protrusion from the head is a modified dorsal fin known as the esca. It’s bioluminescence attracts prey that the anglerfish then impales with their sharp teeth. The esca is even known to attract predators that then turn the hunter into the hunted.

Beluga Legs

Why does this beluga whale look like it has legs? This viral photo has spurred a lot of conversation but scientists state these symmetrical, bone-like features serve an important purpose for belugas, which naturally reside in frigid Arctic and sub-Arctic waters. It’s blubber. Specifically, long “rails” of extra fatty insulation the belugas store on their sides.

Noise on The Roof

An internet user posted this after hearing a noise on their roof. While some are calling this bird a magpie, it looks to be a currawong. Magpies have sharper beaks with white coloring whereas currawongs have a singular colored beak and a curved tip, as pictured. Currawongs are native to eastern Australia.

Seagull Attempts to Help His Mate

This incredible photo captures a seagull attempting to help a fellow seagull captured by a bald eagle. At up to 17 pounds, bald eagles are ferocious hunters and eaters. Here’s an interesting fact for you – bald eagle nests can weigh up to 2000 pounds!

Baby Elephant Stuck

This sad sight shows a young elephant that has fallen into a man-made hole. This is an all too common scene and there’s no possible way for this elephant to escape on his own. You can even see tears in the elephants eyes. We do have some good news though. With the help of locals and an excavator, this young elephant was safely rescued and returned to the wild!

Elephant vs. Car

This incredible photo captured an encounter between a car and a full grown elephant. Maybe the elephant was just a little tired and looking for somewhere to rest, maybe the driver wanted to get a closer look than he bargained for. Either way, the image is incredible. Especially since no one was hurt and the day ended with an incredible story to tell.

Pufferfish vs. Moray Eel

This 4 foot moray eel was found washed ashore on the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The moray died after a pufferfish inflated and lodged in the eel’s throat. The next photo is of a pufferfish skeleton and it further illustrates just how dangerous these fish can be to predators that attempt to eat them.

Pufferfish Skeleton

You’re looking at the spines of pufferfish which are just modified scales. They can puff up to two or three times their normal size. Most puffer fish contain a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin that can be 1200 times stronger than cyanide. In Japan, Puffer fish is a delicacy called fugu. Chefs must train three years or more before they can prepare it.

Famous Jaws Poster in Real Life

A British cage diver captured this terrifying image of a 17ft great white shark surfacing, just like the famous poster for Spielberg’s 1975 classic! This image was captured off the west coast of Mexico. Unlike the famous movie poster, there were no swimmers in sight. Thankfully!

Hyena vs Wild Dogs

This incredible photo shows an intense moment between a hyena and a pack of wild dogs. Perhaps a final moment for the hyena. One study done by Duke University showed that a captive pair of hyenas performed better at problem-solving and social cooperation than chimpanzees. Just as amazing, the hyenas solved all the problems in silence, using only non-verbal signals for communication.

Birds Nesting in Pike’s Mouth

This gnarly photo shows birds that have nested inside a pike’s mouth. How did this fish get in a tree? It most likely occurred due to flooding or a predator placing it in the tree. It looks like the perfect nest for these birds. Even the teeth can provide protection from some predators.

Tree vs. Shipping Container

These photos were taken after a strong flood. It shows a large shipping container that struck and wrapped around a tree, which didn’t budged an inch. It shows just how strong these trees and root systems can be. Along with the force of tens of thousands of gallons of running water can create. Tree one. Shipping container zero.

Roger the Buff Roo

This is Roger. If you haven’t noticed, Roger is a very muscular kangaroo. He lives in an animal sanctuary in Australia. Roger wasn’t always this jacked. When he was rescued, he was a small, sickly joey. Now he’s 6 foot 7 inches tall and 200 pounds of solid muscle. Those muscle aren’t just for show, Roger is known to fight with the animal sanctuary’s founder.

Wolf Eel

This is not an eel. While it is called a wolf eel, they are not true eels, just long skinny fish. The one pictured in this photo is considered young and small. Young wolf eels have a red brick like color (as showing in the photo) and as they age colors dull and they become shades of grays and browns. Full grown wolf eel can grow up to eight feet long and have 200 spinal vertebrae. These fish are found in the north pacific and are known to be gentle, slow-moving and often very friendly with divers.

Coyote vs. Squirrel

As you can see, the coyote has bested this squirrel. When going after small mammals like squirrels, coyotes are much less likely to hunt in packs.  They make an exception when pursuing larger prey like deer. Urban coyotes are on the rise. Researchers from Utah State University surveyed 105 urban areas in America in 2016, they found that 96 of them have coyote populations.

Chick With Genetic Defect

This chick was born with four legs. Polymelia is is a genetic birth defect that can sometimes occur in chickens, and is defined as the growth of an additional limb or limbs. Most of the time, these chickens can live normal healthy lives without negative implications resulting from the defect.

Impala Survives Lion Attack

Imagine the size of the paw that did this. Impalas don’t have it easy. Most young impala are born around mid-day while most predators are resting. Half of newborns don’t survive the first few weeks of life. There’s a theory that they can delay birth for up to a month. Impalas can leap more than three times their height and are more likely to escape predators if they slow down, bob and weave according to one study.

Star-Nosed Mole

Here’s an odd creature you may not have heard of. This is a star-nosed mole. Their distinctive star shaped snout contain more than 100,000 nerve fibers and allows them to quickly determine if something is edible, and then eat it in under a quarter of a second. They are known to eat faster than any other mammal on earth.

These two met their match. Unfortunately, both the catfish and the turtle did not survive. Is there anything a catfish won’t try to eat? Fishermen have been known to catch them with chunks of Ivory soap, gummy worms, marshmallows, bubblegum, hot dogs, Spam, dog food, mulberries, persimmons just to name a few.

Moose Survives and Recovers From Bear Attack

The woman who took this photos says she spotted the moose near her home in Glen Alps, Alaska. She heard from nearby residents that the animal had been mauled by a grizzly. “That moose had been attacked by a bear by a neighbor’s house,” Grenier said. ” The moose was gone and everybody thought it had died, but then it was back and it was in my neighbor’s yard.”

Massive Tiger

Have you ever seen a tiger this large? According to Guinness World Records, the largest tiger on record was a captive male Siberian tiger named Jaipur. In 1986, at the age of nine years old, Jaipur measured 3.32 m (10 ft 11 in) long from nose to tail tip and weighed 423 kg (932 lb).

Sea Turtle’s Mouth

This is what it looks like inside a sea turtle’s mouth. The papillae (spiny projections) trap food and keep it from coming out. They line the turtle’s mouth, esophagus and all the way to the stomach. They are made out of the same protein found in human hair and nails. The papillae basically acts as a reverse filter. Unfortunately, the papillae often causes ingested plastic to get stuck. One more good reason to keep our oceans clean.

Contents of a Harpy Eagle’s Nest

You’re looking at the bones found inside a Harpy eagle’s nest. Harpy eagles are the world’s largest eagle. They are found throughout South America and wingspan of up to six and a half feet wide. They are considered the most powerful raptors in the Amazon. They prey on species as big as monkeys, sloths and even deer! What animals can you spot from this photo?

Leopard Seal’s Teeth

A leopard seal’s diet commonly consists of penguins. After ambushing their prey, they hold it in their long curved teeth and thrash it at the water’s surface, tearing it into swallowable chunks of flesh. Female leopard seals, the larger of the two sexes, can grow up to 590 kg (1,300 pounds) and 3.8m meters (10 feet) long.

Massive Mountain Lion

Here’s an incredible photo showing just how large and buff mountain lions can be. Full grown mountain lions can reach 8 feet long from nose to tail and weigh up to 175 pounds. We’ll assume the largest out there have never be weighed. It’s hard to tell from a photo but this cat looks well over 200 pounds.

Bone Dry Skeleton

This gnarly scene shows the final resting place of a deer after falling into a large crack in rock. This was surely a difficult way for the deer to go.

Turtles From Rocky

If you’re a fan of the Rocky movies you probably remember when Stallone’s character presented turtles as a gift to his girlfriend, Adrian. Well, after filming the movie, Stallone took the turtles home and kept them as pets. Here they are 44 years later and going strong!

Alligator Loses Bottom Jaw

Yep, that is its tongue hanging out. This alligator lost a portion of its bottom jaw but is still going strong. Alligators are truly incredible and adaptable. One study found, young alligators can regrow up to 9 inches of a lost tail. They’re the largest animal with this regenerative ability. The largest ancestral relative was 40-foot alligatoroid that lived in coastal habitats all over North America around 70 million years ago,  Deinosuchus.

Can You Spot The Cougar in This Picture?

This game camera photo captured something very ominous. A cougar hidden in the grass ready to pounce. Did you find it? It’s located lower middle area on the right side of the image. Just above the large rock.

Wrap Around Spider

You’ll have to look close but there is a very flat spider wrapping around this branch. Hence the name, wrap around spider. Not only do they blend in with the colors of the branch, the have an upper abdomen shaped like an inverted disk which allows them to perfectly wrap themselves around branches, fooling potential predators.

Lava Falling in the Hawaiian Jungle

This incredible photo shows lava running throughout the Hawaiian Jungle. Kīlauea is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. Historically, it is the most active of the five volcanoes that together form the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. Between 1912 and 2012, there were nearly 50 Kīlauea eruptions.

Mata Mata Turtle

Instead of hunting, mata matas blending in with the vegetation and wait for dinner to come to them. When a fish approaches, the turtle stretches its neck out and opens its mouth wide to create a vacuum and suck their prey in. A mata mata’s neck is longer than its vertebra. This turtle originates in South America’s Amazon and Orinoco basins.

Volcanic Lightning Long Exposure

“Volcanic lightning is an electrical discharge caused by a volcanic eruption, rather than from an ordinary thunderstorm. Volcanic lightning arises from colliding, fragmenting particles of volcanic ash (and sometimes ice), which generate static electricity within the volcanic plume, leading to the name dirty thunderstorm.” –Wikipedia

Massive Polar Bear

“The largest polar bear on record, reportedly weighing 1,002 kg (2,209 lb), was a male shot at Kotzebue Sound in northwestern Alaska in 1960. This specimen, when mounted, stood 3.39 m (11 ft 1 in) tall on its hindlegs.” –Wikipedia

Most Well-Preserved Dinosaur

Here’s one of the most well-preserved dinosaur skeletons in existence. Known as a nodosaur, this 110 million-year-old, armored plant-eater was accidentally discovered by miners in 2012. The 18-foot-long, nearly 3,000-pound behemoth was the rhinoceros of its day. According to researchers, nodosaur were grumpy herbivores that largely kept to themselves.

1898 Tornado, Oklahoma City

You’re looking at a photo of a tornado that occurred in Oklahoma City, in 1898. Unfortunately, there are many websites claiming this photo is 100% real. While the tornado is real, the foreground and the men in it were superimposed. This has been confirmed by the website Snopes. Websites claiming this photo is real are lying to you.

Old World Monkeys

The gelada is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands. It’s sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada “baboon”. The mostly eat grassing but will also eat opportunistically eat fruits and even cereal crops. Gelada’s have a hairless, hourglass-shaped pink or red area of skin located on the chest. They display threats by flipping their upper lips back to display their teeth and gums. They also pull back their scalps to display their pale eyelids.

Mammatus Clouds

Mammatus is a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. They look like udders which is why they are also known as mammary clouds. The distinct “lumpy” undersides are formed by cold air sinking down to form the pockets contrary to the puffs of clouds rising through the convection of warm air.

Whale Bones vs Human Hand

In 1859 Charles Darwin remarked, “What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed on the same pattern, and should include the same bones, in the same relative positions?”

Intact 40 Million Year Old Basilosaurus

This intact Basilosaurus fossil was uncovered during an excavation at Wadi Al-Hitan in Egypt. Basilosaurus are early predatory whales dating about 40 million years ago. They had long, eel-like bodies and their bones were used by residents of the southeastern U.S. as andirons for fireplaces or foundation posts for houses. Basilosaurus is the State Fossil of Mississippi and Alabama.

Barn Funnel Weaver Web

You’re probably familiar with children’s novel Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White. Well, here’s the spider from the tale. Just like in the story, this spider makes incredible looking webs meant to catch small insect prey. So how deadly is the barn funnel weaver spider to humans? Not at all. There are no documented cases of bites from barn funnel weavers.

The Arrow and the Stork

As the information with this image states, European zoologists didn’t know where migratory birds went during winter. The mystery was solved when a stork returned to Germany with a spear from Central Africa through its neck.

Ice Eggs

This rare weather event is known as “ice eggs” which experts say is caused by a rare process in which small pieces of ice are rolled over by wind and water. The ice eggs covered an area of about 30m (100ft). The biggest were the size of footballs.

Tree Climbing Goats

Why are these goats climbing trees? This is in southwestern Morocco, which doesn’t get a lot of rain – therefore sometimes the only food the goats can find is on the top of these argan tree. In the fall, they devote more than 70 percent of their eating time to “treetop grazing” some 26 to 33 feet high.

Wolf Spider Babies

Most spiders lay eggs in a silk sack and leave the baby spiders to fend for themselves after birth. The wolf spider, however, carries its young on her back until they are large enough to hunt their own prey. Like a wolf, the wolf spider hunts for their food. They do not make webs, they make burrows instead.

Underwater ‘Waterfalls’ in Mauritius

So how can there be such a thing as an underwater waterfall? Sand and silt on the ocean floor run off in a way that makes it look like they’re pouring down a waterfall. In this case, it looks like the entire island is being sucked down a vast drain. Mauritius is located just off the coast of Le Morne. It’s a popular vacation destination know for its beaches, lagoons and reefs.

Roosevelt Riding a Moose

Does this photo look real to you? We’re sorry to say it is not. You’re looking at one of the earliest examples on photoshop. The photo was released in 1908 and shows President Theodore Roosevelt riding atop a moose across in a river. Unfortunately, this picture is not real. The photo served as a press release for Roosevelt’s presidential campaign. It was printed in the September 8, 1912 edition of the New York Tribune and used in an ad campaign.

Haunting Road in Northern Ireland

You’re looking at trees planted in the 1700s! Over time, the branches became woven together creating this very ominous looking photos.  This road can be found Northern Ireland. It’s known as Bregagh Road and is the entrance to an estate known as the Gracehill House. Could this be your next vacation destination?

Honeybees Cook Hornets

As the image says, Asian giant hornets and Japanese honeybees are no friends. The hornets rob honeybee colonies and there was little the honeybees could do about it. But honeybees evolved a strange defensive tactic – forming a ball of bees around the hornets, quivering their flight muscles (which creates intense heat) until the hornets literally drop dead.

Frilled Shark

Frilled shark can grow to about seven feet long and is named for the frilly appearance of its gills. These animals swim in a serpentine fashion, much like an eel. They mostly feed on squid.

Alaskan Meals on Wheels

Here’s a popular photo showing a bear chasing a cyclist. We’ve seen a few websites showing this photo and claiming it’s real, however, those websites are incorrect. This photo was proven by Snopes to be photoshopped.

Bladerunner The Whale

This whale is known as Bladerunner. After being cut by a propeller in Sydney in 2001, she was left with deep 30-centimeter scars along her left side and right tail fluke. Researchers and vacation goers most recently spotted her in Tasmanian waters 20 years after the incident. Humpback whales typically live 45-50 years. Could you imagine going whale watching and spotting Bladerunner?

Forrest of Crooked Trees

There are 400 oddly shaped pine trees located near the town of Gryfino, West Pomerania in Poland. Why are they shaped like this? There are many theories, all of which are unnerving. Theories range from odd gravitational pulls and catastrophic natural events to even being run over by a German Panzer tank while they were young.