Category: Outdoors

Marlin causes ‘huge commotion’ before being caught in Cabo marina

Footage shows the marlin inside the harbor at Baja California’s tip. “Of course this caused huge commotion on the docks.”

Last summer we shared footage showing a sailfish – described by National Geographic as “the fastest fish in the ocean” – swimming inside Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas Marina.

The rare appearance was brief as the sailfish soon breezed back into bluer offshore waters, where it belonged.

On Sunday a striped marlin was caught on video swimming around the docks in the same marina, at Baja California’s tip, in another rare event that did not end well for the billfish. (See footage below.)

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“So this happened yesterday… A Striped Marlin made its way into the Cabo Marina in front of our Pisces Office!” Pisces Sportfishing exclaimed Monday via Instagram. “The Marlin cruised around the slips seemingly confused in the shallow water.

“Of course this caused huge commotion on the docks and unfortunately for the Marlin a group of men caught it later on.”

Pisces spokeswoman Rebecca Ehrenberg told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was gaffed and hauled onto a dock.

Cabo San Lucas is billed as “The Marlin Capital of the World,” but most encounters occur in the deep blue – and most anglers release the marlin they hook.

But the marina, positioned where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, is occasionally visited by creatures more commonly found in offshore waters.

Ehrenberg said a marlin entered the marina last year, too, and that in late August a school of large squid was captured on video in an “amazing sight” under the lights at night.

“Right in front of Captain Tony’s [restaurant] – calamari anybody,” Pisces joked via Facebook. “Maybe they came for the music.”

That reel can be viewed via this link or in the player below.

Yellowstone coyote clearly visible, but can you spot the other critter?

Coyote in Yellowstone National Park is being closely watched by another mammal. Can you spot the critter in the image?

Editor’s note: This is a version of a post first published by For The Win Outdoors in 2023.

A bit of advice for anyone visiting Yellowstone National Park: While  searching for wildlife, always take a moment to glance behind you.

It could be rewarding even if you’re already observing large animals.

The accompanying images show a coyote that I photographed in May 2023 while standing near a road with other tourists watching a cinnamon black bear and two cubs.

RELATED: Can you spot the Yellowstone elk in striking ‘moonset’ image?

The bears were down a forested slope, perhaps 80 yards from the road. The coyote was behind us, on the opposite side of the road, passing virtually unnoticed about 40 yards away.

Yellowstone coyote being watched by mystery critter. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

I didn’t realize until that evening that a smaller critter was also in the image, watching the coyote. Can you spot and ID the critter? (Answer below.)

While coyotes aren’t high on many tourists’ spotting lists, I found it interesting that this coyote was on the move so close to people who were looking in the opposite direction.

ALSO: Tiger, cobra square off in rarely witnessed encounter; video

On the same trip, also in Yellowstone’s northern range, I was with perhaps 30 tourists watching another black bear descending a slope toward the road.

Cinnamon-colored black bear in Yellowstone National Park. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

People jockeyed for spots from which to observe or photograph the bruin.

Directly behind us, high atop a rocky peak, mountain goats maneuvered in and out of sight.

Yellowstone black bear and cubs during close roadside encounter. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

On a different day, I was surprised at close range, while outside my vehicle, by a momma bear and two cubs. Momma bear gave me the stink eye until I slowly backed away, when she and her cubs resumed grazing.

Yellowstone coyote being watched closely by a ground squirrel. Photo: ©Pete Thomas

My sightings log for three days: 14 individual bears, the coyote and ground squirrel (see photo above), the mountain goats, and dozens of pronghorn and bison.

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Fishermen make rare catch: A doomsday fish, but with a seahorse head?

Oarfish live at great depths, are mostly seen washed ashore, and are a sign of impending doom, as legend has it, but rarely look like this.

Those familiar with oarfish know that they live at great depths, are mostly seen dead and washed up on shore, and are often referred to as a doomsday fish because seeing one is a warning sign of impending doom, or at least as legend has it.

And they are hardly ever caught by fishermen, since they live in depths from 600 to over 3,000 feet.

So it was a rare catch when two fishermen off the Top End of Australia landed the serpent-like sea creature and held up their prized catch, a giant oarfish, for a photo.

Skipper Curtis Peterson of Tiwi Islands Adventures led the night-time fishing excursion last week off Melville Island where the unidentified anglers made the catch, according to the Daily Mail Australia.

Related: Angler revives exotic sea creature in rare encounter

The image of the catch was posted on the Fishing Australia TV Facebook page where commenters questioned the odd-looking head that looked like a seahorse or an oarfish with a horse’s head. But one commenter correctly explained that the mouth is extended, much like a John Dory fish.

One feature of the oarfish is a “protrusible mouth,” or a mouth capable of being extended, which might have occurred while being caught.

It is worth noting that this is the first recorded sighting of an oarfish in the Top End, according to Yahoo Australia.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone land a fish like that up here,” NT News fishing columnist Alex Julius said, according to Daily Mail Australia. “It’s also very rare to land one of these fish, most being found washed up ashore already deceased.”

Photo credit: Wm. Leo Smith/Wikipedia Commons

A giant oarfish washed ashore near San Diego, California, in September 1996, and a group of U.S. Navy SEALS held up the 23-foot-long sea creature.

As for its reputation of being a warning sign of doom, well, it’s not true. Or is it?

From Live Science:

In traditional Japanese legend, oarfish were known as “ryugu no tsukai” meaning “the messenger from the sea dragon god’s palace.” People believed oarfish would come up from the deep to warn people when an earthquake was imminent. This myth caused a stir in 2011 when 20 oarfish washed ashore in the months before Japan was struck by the country’s most powerful earthquake.

While there is no evidence to back up the link between oarfish sightings and earthquakes, in August 2024 snorkelers found an oarfish in California — two days before an earthquake hit the region. However, scientists believe this was a coincidence.

Watch: Rescued mountain lion cub snuggles with ‘perfect plushy’

The tiny cougar, being cared for by the Oakland Zoo, is shown taking comfort in the companionship of its super-soft stuffed dog.

The Oakland Zoo has shared adorable footage of its newly acquired mountain lion cub snuggling with its favorite toy and comfort item – a plushy stuffed dog.

“The perfect plushy just hits different!” the zoo exclaimed via social media.

Footage shows Briar, who was rescued in early August after being found without a mom in El Dorado County, is shown cozying up to and napping briefly upon the stuffy’s shoulders.

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Briar was 4 or 5 weeks old when he was rescued – a search failed to turn up its mom – and will be cared for by the Oakland Zoo until a forever home can be found.

One of the top comments: “Thank you, for everything you’ve done for Briar. I still think of Mama.”

Cougar kills family cat, returns 9 hours later in haunting visit

Video shows the mountain lion peering through a glass door during the day and night, perhaps eyeing the 5-year-old inside as prey.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story included a graphic video. It has been removed.

A mountain lion killed a family cat, peered through a glass door in the back of the house and then, in a haunting visit, returned nine hours later when it banged its head against the same glass door.

The frightening encounter occurred last month outside Calgary, Alberta, around noon just after Jessica Low had made lunch for her 5-year-old daughter, as reported by OkotoksOnline. The girl had spotted something in the backyard.

“Within about a minute of sitting her down, she cried out to me that, ‘[Oreo] is dead,’” Low told OkotoksOnline. “I shot up off the couch to see what she was talking about and there was a cougar coming right up to the window with our dead cat in its mouth.”

The cougar pawed at the window and hissed, perhaps eyeing the girl as prey.

Low captured video of the scary ordeal and it was posted on the natureismetal Instagram account.

A call to the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement prompted officers to go to the house and look around, but they were unable to locate the mountain lion. They did remove Oreo’s body, hoping it would deter the cougar from returning.

But it did return around 9 p.m., and this time Low’s older daughter was the first to see it.

“It came back to the window and was banging its head up against the glass and kind of stared at me while I came towards it, and as I got closer it turned around and ran off,” Low told OkotoksOnline. “Fish and Wildlife said that they think it was kind of testing the glass, which is why it was bumping its head against the glass, which is pretty scary.”

Fish and Wildlife personnel returned to the house but again failed to locate the animal. They returned the next day and set traps in hopes of capturing the cougar. It is not known if they eventually caught the mountain lion.

Related: Man calmly videos cougar walking past him; ‘I had bear spray ready’

But less than two weeks later, 10 miles from the attack outside Low’s home, a Foothills resident came face-to-face with a cougar, which attacked his dog. Jakob Strasser returned home and heard a commotion at this front gate just before 8 p.m., according to the Calgary Herald.

“I ran up to it, had nothing in my hands, and I just screamed at the cougar,” he told the Herald.

The cougar dropped the small dog, which sustained injuries but survived. It remains unknown whether it was the same attacking cougar.

“We are next to the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area, so we know that they [predators] are potentially around here, but we’ve been out here for about two and a half years, we have a camera on our door, and we’ve never seen anything at night, let alone during the day,” Low told OkotoksOnline.

“I would just not in a million years think that a cougar would come out in the middle of the day.”

She told the Herald, “Cougars around here are just getting bolder.”

Hurricane John has surfers in Mexico seeking ‘waves of their dreams’

Footage shows surfers testing their skills at the ‘Mexican Pipeline’ in the immediate aftermath of the powerful storm.

As Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc this week in the southeastern United States, Hurricane John did the same in southwestern Mexico.

But in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane John on Friday morning, the wind began to subside and massive waves generated by the storm began to clean up, tempting surfers at Puerto Escondido to test their skills.

“The weather continues to give no respite and the storm waves do not stop,” photographer Edwin Morales stated via Instagram. “Although the short period is not ideal for Playa Zicatela, the gladiators continue trying and looking for the wave of their dreams.”

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Morales’ footage, shown above and below, shows why Zicatela Beach, just south of Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca, is referred to as the Mexican Pipeline.

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While Morales’ videos do not show the notoriously hollow beach break at its largest or cleanest, his footage does reveal the spot’s potential as one of the world’s premier big-wave surfing destinations.