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Scientists Shocked to Discover Sharks Living Inside an Active Volcano
Giving new meaning to the term “Shark-cano”…
An expedition team of scientists were examining the active underwater volcano known as Kavachi just off the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific when they discovered something that shocked their socks off.
There are many living wonders in the world existing in the most unlikely of habitats, but what they discovered was something in an unprecedented scope.
Upon lowering a submersible robot equipped with a camera up to a depth of 147 feet to view the insides of the volcano’s caldera, footage captured living creatures in an environment where none should exist.
They saw sharks swimming inside the actual volcano!
There was no way possible living things that large could possibly exist in the hot, acidic water where divers have reported mild skin burns.
The volcano in question had recently erupted in 2004, 2007, and 2014, making the scientist team’s expedition a dangerous one.
Steam pushes up during one of Kavachi’s eruptions.
The wonder was compounded when footage from the underwater camera caught not only one, but several numbers of silky sharks, hammerheads, and the elusive Pacific Swimmer shark that has only been caught on video only three times previously.
A hammerhead
Of course, there were a number of other living creatures spotted, like a sixgill stingray, crabs and jellyfish, but the sharks brought up a huge number of questions over their very existence in the inhospitable environment.
A lava-ray…
…and a vol-crab-no
In the video, carbon dioxide and methane gas bubbles constantly rose from vents in the sea floor, making it a very extreme environment to adapt to. Even from the surface of the water, from as much as 10 miles away, the expedition team could hear the volcano rumbling.
Scientist Brennan Phillips, who led the expedition into Kavachi hopes to deploy camera instruments in and around the volcano’s crater on a longer term to observe the creatures closely in their adapted environment, and to answer some of the questions that arose from discovering the sharks swimming within.
…far away from their natural habitat
One of these questions relate to how misunderstood sharks are, and how much they have been preyed upon by humans. With over a hundred million sharks killed by humans every year, one in four of their species have become endangered.
On the other hand, if these creatures of the deep have found somewhere they could hide that’s inaccessible to their main predator – man, then it ultimately increases their chances of survival.
Watch the video from deep within the Kvachi volcano:
H/T: National Geographic and Mother Nature Network

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Storyteller and visual engineer, Benjamin Von Wong has a story to tell, and so he garbed his model in a flowing white gown with a shepherd's staff as a prop, and anchored her down with ropes several meters underwater near Kuata Island in Fiji where white-tipped reef sharks abound in the protected marine sanctuary.
Was this going too far just to promote his art?
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Tense Moment Curious Elephant Says Hello to Terrified Motorcycle Riders
What would you do if a huge animal suddenly appears on the road while you are driving?
Elephants are big but really cute animals. They are usually the main attraction at zoos because it is not every day that people can see[ such big animals.
They are a delight to observe, especially because they seem so cool, calm and collected. However, suddenly seeing an elephant on the road while on a motorcycle is a different case and definitely not an instant joy!
In Thailand a motorcycle rider named Teerawong and a companion were casually driving down Khao Yai National Park when the huge animal appeared out of nowhere. The duo screamed due to shock but remained composed as they leave the motorcycle for the elephant to marvel.
Another car pulls up and together, they observed and took pictures of the calm elephant checking out the motorcycle....