The Ark In Space

Watch Sea Snakes Cooperate with Fish to Hunt

Sunday, 22 March 2026

In the coral reefs of Indonesia, something remarkable happens on remote coral reefs. The Banded Sea Krait, which lays its eggs on land but hunts in the water, has a problem. They aren’t fast enough to catch free-swimming fish, so resort to trying to find those hiding among the coral. A single bite is sufficient to paralyse prey, but getting at it is the problem! Fortunately (for them), they get assistance from the yellow goat fish which live around the reef, as well as trevally fish – and together they form what can only be described as a pack – at some points in this film there are around fifty snakes and countless fish, banding together with only one thing in mind – food!

The fish will chase the prey into the coral and then the snakes go in. When some of the smaller fish try to escape, then the yellow goat fish and trevally are waiting for them. It’s a win-win situation for both the snakes and the fish. It is thought that this behavior was much more widespread when Indonesia’s reefs were pristine, but these days it only happens in some of the more remote reefs – the main reason why this kind of hunting is not seen very often.

Watch the intriguing video from BBC Earth below.

Maleo - The Bird That Can Fly The Moment it Hatches

Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Beneath the red hot sand of an Indonesian island something stirs. A large egg is hatching and soon the newborn creature will dig its way out to the surface and take its first gulps of fresh air. Yet no parent watches over it. This sounds as if it should be a young turtle, thrusting its flippers sideways as it makes its desperate lurch towards the ocean. It is not, however. This is a bird. More remarkable still is that when it emerges the chick will already be able to fly.

Image Credit Flickr User MYake

The Maleo is a surprising bird. Although it only numbers around ten thousand in the wild – and close to zero in captivity – it is remarkable amongst our feathered friends for the unique way it cares for its young. Instead of incubating their eggs, the Maleos lay theirs in the baking sand of Sulawesi island – the only place in the world in which they can be found in the wild. It sounds like an April Fool trick, but be assured, this bird is very much alive and kicking. Whether it will be around in another fifty years, however, is altogether a different question.

Lembeh Straits, A Macro Symphony

Monday, 6 April 2015

The red ‘orang-utan’ crab that you can see in the picture on the left is so tiny that its home is a discarded Coca-Cola bottle top. The shrimp that you will see after it is barely 4mm tall.

Such is life in Malaysia’s Lembeh Straits and these two creatures along with all the others in this underwater macro short, filmed by Kay Burn Lim, make for fascinating viewing. To paraphrase a commenter, it makes one aware of the incredible diversity of life in our oceans and the paramount importance of preserving it.

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