• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Octopus Filmed Riding A Shark Like A Cowboy, Surprising Scientists (And, Probably, Shark)

March 21, 2025 by Deborah Bloomfield

Forget your sk8er bois and surfers, there is officially a new coolest way to get around and it’s riding on the back of a shark, as demonstrated by an octopus in Hauraki Gulf near Kawau Island. Stunning footage of what’s being described as a “mysterious sight indeed” was shared by the University Of Auckland (UoA), showing the seabed-dwelling octopus riding on the back of a shortfin mako, sharks that don’t favor the deep.

ADVERTISEMENT

The sighting occurred back in December 2023 as the University of Auckland’s research team was on the lookout for feeding frenzies. They spotted the tell-tale fin of a shortfin mako, but then spotted something unusual on its back: an orange blob.

A drone took to the air to investigate and when it got closer revealed that the unexpected hat was, in fact, an octopus. According to Prof Rochelle Constantine, who was present for the eye-opening observation, the team hung around to watch for 10 minutes before heading off, adding that “The octopus may have been in for quite the experience since the world’s fastest shark species can reach 50kph.”



What makes the sighting quite such – and we’re quoting UoA here – “a mysterious sight indeed” is the fact that these two animals typically occupy very different parts of the water column. Octopuses will feel their way along the seabed, hunting and seeking shelter, and rarely run the risk of flouncing out into open water where they’re at much greater risk of predation.

Shortfin mako sharks, on the other hand, are pelagic animals meaning they stick to the open sea. As Constantine mentioned, they can move pretty fast too, and while cephalopods are a big part of their diet, it’s tricky to imagine how a potential predation event winds up with you wearing your meal as a hat.

That said, it’s not the first time a top predator has tried something a bit daring when it comes to accessories. In 2024, it was announced that – after a 37-year break – wearing a salmon on your head was back in fashion for orcas.

ADVERTISEMENT

The fad first kicked off in 1987 in the Puget Sound area of the northeast Pacific. One female kicked it off and soon multiple orcas from several pods were styling out the dead fish fascinator.

So, perhaps this is a story to be viewed from two different lenses: is this a thrill-seeking octopus with a need for speed? Or a fashion-forward shortfin mako that made you look?

I think that’s earned an, ahem, hats off to you both.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Skype alumni head to court in a battle over Starship Technologies and Wire
  2. Soccer-West Ham win again, Leicester and Napoli falter
  3. Was Jesus A Hallucinogenic Mushroom? One Scholar Certainly Thought So
  4. Lacking Company, A Dolphin In The Baltic Is Talking To Himself

Source Link: Octopus Filmed Riding A Shark Like A Cowboy, Surprising Scientists (And, Probably, Shark)

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version