{"id":1642,"date":"2019-01-17T15:29:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T15:29:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/?p=1642"},"modified":"2019-02-21T13:09:37","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T13:09:37","slug":"eyecatchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/17\/eyecatchers\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyecatchers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>Eyecatchers<\/i> are show-stopping and surprising standalone images from the natural world, accompanied by the photographers\u2019 stories from behind the lens. Below is a sample from our latest selection. The full series can be viewed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/pictures\/pdfs\/NaturePL_Eyecatchers_2019.01.pdf\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote><div id='gallery-1' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"Kaleidoscopic image of Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-600x398.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-375x249.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-900x598.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01606294-160x106.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"Kaleidoscopic image of Bubble tip anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia.\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<p>Coral Kaleidoscope by Georgette Douwma<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always been drawn to coral reefs and have photographed them for as long as I can remember. Inspired by their inherent beauty, I started experimenting with what I call \u2018coral kaleidoscopes\u2019. By flipping and mirroring my images I discovered that I could create surprising compositions with strong symmetry, texture and design. For me, the arresting colours and shapes capture the allure of coral reefs and the species that live within them. I think the results are magical.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-2' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"The Bishnoi woman breastfeeding an orphaned Indian gazelle \/ Chinkara fawn (Gazella bennettii) Bishnoi are a religious community which venerates nature, based in northwestern India. The fawn will be released when it is old enough. Rajasthan, India. Highly commended in the European Nature Photographer of the Year Competion 2018\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01604001-159x106.jpg 159w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"The Bishnoi woman breastfeeding an orphaned Indian gazelle \/ Chinkara fawn (Gazella bennettii) Bishnoi are a religious community which venerates nature, based in northwestern India. The fawn will be released when it is old enough. Rajasthan, India. Highly commended in the European Nature Photographer of the Year Competion 2018\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<blockquote><p>Foster Mother by Axel Gomille<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe Bishnoi are a religious community that lives in Northwestern India. They treat wildlife as fellow creatures, not as a resource. In the same area lives the Indian gazelle, also known as chinkara. Some of them get killed by traffic or feral dogs. In such cases, the Bishnoi women traditionally breast-feed orphaned gazelle fawns &#8211; just like their own human children &#8211; before the animals are released back into the wild. The religious beliefs of the Bishnoi have a very real conservation value.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-3' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01594931-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"Common blue damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) group gathering over water, Hondenven, Tubbergen, Netherlands, July.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01594931-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01594931-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01594931-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01594931-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"Common blue damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) group gathering over water, Hondenven, Tubbergen, Netherlands, July.\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<blockquote><p>Damselfly Patrol by Theo Bosboom<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAt a small fen in the Netherlands, huge amounts of common blue damselflies gather on and around the water on hot summer days. They flit back and forth, looking for prey and mates, while others rest from their labours. Grass stems poking out of the water are popular perches and therefore always occupied. If a damselfly cannot find a place to land, it will often keep flying around a stem. I have discovered that they often do this in a synchronised way. The flight patterns are beautiful, as if the work of a choreographer. However, it is very hard to capture them because the action takes place so quickly. Out of thousands of pictures I\u2019ve taken over the years, only a handful have been successful. Overcast, still days are the best &#8211; creating calm, white water and perfect reflections. This picture comes close to what I\u2019ve had in mind all these years, capturing a naurally-occurring \u2018flight formation\u2019. No tricks, just years of hard work and dedication.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-4' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"Blue sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus) approaching the venom-filled tentacles of a Indo-Pacific Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia utriculus). Both were washed ashore as part of a mass, multi-day stranding of thousands of Portuguese man-of-war. Glaucus nudibranchs are immune to the venom of the blue bottles that they consume. South Africa.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592331-159x106.jpg 159w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"Blue sea slug (Glaucus atlanticus) approaching the venom-filled tentacles of a Indo-Pacific Portuguese man-of-war (Physalia utriculus). Both were washed ashore as part of a mass, multi-day stranding of thousands of Portuguese man-of-war. Glaucus nudibranchs are immune to the venom of the blue bottles that they consume. South Africa.\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<blockquote><p>Weaponised Slug by Tony Wu<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cA blue nudibranch (or sea slug) approaches the colourful, venom-filled tentacles of a bluebottle jellyfish, also known as a Portuguese man-of-war. The ocean-faring slug hunts and eats bluebottles, ingesting its prey\u2019s powerful stinging cells (called nematocysts) and deploying them to special organs at the tips of its own cerata (the spiny outgrowths on its body). These confiscated weapons are then used for the slug\u2019s own selfdefence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><div id='gallery-5' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) leaving maternity colony at night to feed, with red lighting at entrance to cave. Bracken Cave, San Antonio, Texas, USA, July. Bracken Cave is the world&#039;s largest bat maternity colony.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01591021-159x106.jpg 159w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) leaving maternity colony at night to feed, with red lighting at entrance to cave. Bracken Cave, San Antonio, Texas, USA, July. Bracken Cave is the world&#039;s largest bat maternity colony.\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<p>Bat Cave by Karine Aigner<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cAs dusk deepens the sky outside Bracken Cave in Texas, a breath-taking spectacle takes place. For several hours, millions of bats stream out of the cave, tornadoing through the sky on one of their nightly hunting trips. Bracken Cave, outside San Antonio, is home to 15 to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats, comprising the largest single colony of bats in the world. No other mammal on the planet lives at such a dense concentrations.<br \/>\nEvery night at dusk, between March and October, the bats emerge to feed &#8211; hunting moths, beetles and winged ants. They exit the cave in such dense clusters that they appear as storm clouds on<br \/>\nweather radar! It was essential not to disturb the bats on their mass exodus from the cave, so I used infrared and other sophisticated lighting techniques to avoid disorienting them. It was such a beautiful thing to witness. Once the bats started coming out of the cave, they filled the sky. I could watch such a spectacle every night and never tire of it!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote><div id='gallery-6' class='gallery gallery-1642 style-standard'><figure class='gallery-item col-0'><div class='gallery-icon landscape'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-360x240.jpg\" class=\"attachment-three-two size-three-two\" alt=\"Brush footed butterfly (Lycorea sp.) caterpillar with parasitic wasp cocoons on silk threads, Yasuni National Park, Orellana, Ecuador.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-360x240.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/01592542-159x106.jpg 159w\" sizes=\"100vw\" title=\"Brush footed butterfly (Lycorea sp.) caterpillar with parasitic wasp cocoons on silk threads, Yasuni National Park, Orellana, Ecuador.\" \/><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!-- .gallery -->\n\n<p>Survivor by Lucas Bustamante<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cMonkeys, birds, frogs, snakes, butterflies\u2026 I never know where to point my camera in the Amazon. There\u2019s something interesting in every glance. But when I saw this caterpillar, I knew I\u2019d found<br \/>\nsomething incredibly unusual.<br \/>\nThe caterpillar had been parasitised by an ichneumon wasp. These wasps choose a host (usually the larvae of butterflies or beetles) to lay their eggs in. The eggs are inserted using a long, sharp appendage called an ovipositor that can pierce the flesh of the victim. When the eggs hatch, the wasp larvae begin to develop inside their living host, feeding on its tissues until they\u2019re ready to pupate. By then, the host is usually dead, or nearly so. But that was not the case here. The caterpillar was still alive, even though the many wasp larvae had eaten their way out of it and were pupating in their silken cocoons. I\u2019d always wanted to photograph this disturbing interaction but it\u00b4s not easy to find\u2026 let alone in a host that can survive such a gruesome attack!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eyecatchers are show-stopping and surprising standalone images from the natural world, accompanied by the photographers\u2019 stories from behind the lens. Below is a sample from our latest selection. The full series can be viewed here. Coral Kaleidoscope by Georgette Douwma \u201cI\u2019ve always been drawn to coral reefs and have photographed them for as long as&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/2019\/01\/17\/eyecatchers\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\"button\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories","category-natural-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1642"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1657,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642\/revisions\/1657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}