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Video of a horseshoe crab struggling to rescue its flipped-over friend is surprisingly riveting

People are finding themselves tilting their phones to try to help them out.

Sunny Skyz Videos/YouTube

A horseshoe crab works hard to help flip over another that has overturned.

Horseshoe crabs are fascinating creatures, and not just because they look like some kind of shelled alien.

First of all, horseshoe crabs aren't crabs at all. They're actually more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs and lobsters. Secondly, they are ancient—even predating the dinosaurs—which is why they're often referred to as "living fossils." Third, their blood contains a unique substance called limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) that humans have relied on for decades to test the safety of medications, vaccines and medical equipment. (A synthetic version of LAL is increasingly being utilized instead, which is good news for horseshoe crabs who probably don't appreciate the bloodletting.)

Oh, and they also glow also under ultraviolet light (blacklight) like scorpions do, and nobody knows why.


But one of the most interesting recent discoveries about horseshoe crabs is that their brains haven't evolved much at all in over 300 million years. In 2021, a 310-million-year-old horseshoe crab fossil was discovered in Illinois with a beautifully preserved brain. Scientists compared it to a current species of horseshoe crab and found that while their external characteristics had changed over time, their brains were pretty much identical.

That discovery makes a viral video of one horseshoe crab seeming to go all out to help another one all the more remarkable. Horseshoe crabs usually use their tails to flip themselves over if they end up upside down, but a video shows a horseshoe crab clearly exerting sustained effort to help a buddy who is flailing on its back. Such behavior seems to indicate some combination of planning and altruism, which are characteristics we usually associate with highly social or evolved creatures. If horseshoe crab brains haven't evolved in hundreds of millions of years, what would compel one to to help another with no obvious benefit to itself?

Maybe horseshoe crab brains were just perfect for their species' purposes from the get-go—10/10, no notes—and this video is just a fluke. Or perhaps what we're witnessing is biological altruism, which is a behavioral reality of some species of animals, usually among those with complex social structures. Scientists debate whether biological altruism differs from human altruism since our motivations to selflessly help others frequently go beyond our species' survival, and research on that front is ongoing. While the "why" here may be a mystery, it doesn't make it any less heartwarming to see an animal that we think of as purely instinctual go out of its way to help another.

Plus, in this case, the rescue is truly riveting. People have commented that they keep tilting their phones to try to help them out. Watch:

If a creature whose brain hasn't evolved in 310 million years can do this for one another, surely we can treat our fellow humans with care and compassion, no?

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See stunning before and after shots of coral reefs as ocean temps rose by only 2 degrees.

This is what it looks like when a piece of coral dies.

[rebelmouse-image 19532184 dam="1" original_size="500x281" caption="GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."" expand=1]GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."

This is a phenomenon known as coral bleaching, now captured in the award-winning documentary "Chasing Coral." To get these impressive shots, a team of photographers, divers, and scientists traveled the world to capture time-lapse photographs of coral bleaching events.

"The beauty with time-lapse photography is that you have the ability to shift how we as humans see and perceive changes that may move in the slow lane," says photographer Zack Rago.

Getting these images was a challenge. Divers had to spend hours each day battling the currents. And it could be emotionally difficult too.

"Being the person on the ground experiencing those changes is certainly emotionally taxing. I have a deep connection to coral reef ecosystems. Spending as much time as I have documenting their death is something that fills me with guilt and shame to this day," explains Rago. "At the same time, I also cherish those dives because I know that our team has revealed this issue to the world in meaningful and powerful way."

When asked if there was any single dive that was especially hard, Rago says yes. "There is one dive that was particularly difficult. In the hours leading up to the dive, I actually watched the first edit of our time-lapses. Seeing the images from day one and immediately going back out to those dying reefs was the single most emotionally challenging dive I’ll likely ever do."

Coral bleaching happens when the water around a reef becomes too warm.

During a bleaching event, the coral polyps (tiny creatures that actually make the reef) are effectively cooked, slowly turning white before dying. It doesn't take much, the episodes captured in Chasing Coral were the result of only a two-degree rise in water temperature, according to The New York Times.

Once the coral is dead, brown, sludgy algae take over, turning the once vibrant reef into something that looks like a parking lot.

[rebelmouse-image 19532185 dam="1" original_size="500x281" caption="GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."" expand=1]GIF via Netflix/Exposure Labs/YouTube, from the film "Chasing Coral."

This deadly warming is fueled by climate change, as more than 90% of the excess heat in our atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean.

"Coral reefs are in trouble. We know that if current trends prevail, we will lose the majority of corals on the planet in the coming decades," says Rago. Scientists have warned that, given current trends, we could lose most corals within 30 years. Vast swaths of the Great Barrier Reef (where these photos were taken) may already be past the point of no return.

Rago is planning to head back to the Great Barrier Reef this November to help identify "super corals" that could help scientists breed heat-resistant reefs.

As climate change becomes the new norm, it can be difficult to remember how the world once looked.

"We need to protect what we can right now," says Rago.

There are already a lot of exciting efforts underway. Nations around the world are currently rallying around stopping or mollifying the effects of climate change, with 169 different countries joining in on the landmark Paris 2015 climate agreement.

As they work out the best way to stop this, photography like these amazing time-lapse images can be a touch point for us — something to stick in our minds. And, if we fail, they can be a record for future generations.

"This problem may be hidden in our ocean, but the solutions start with us," Rago says. By sharing these images, people can help inspire friends, family members, or business or political leaders to action.

"Chasing Coral" premiered on Netflix in July 2017 and is still available to watch as of this writing.

If you want to see more, you can watch this three-minute video, including some of the time-lapse images, below:

Time-lapse video captures a disturbing phenomenon known as cor...

These before-and-after images remind us of what's really at stake in the climate conversations at #COP23. (via Chasing Coral)

Posted by Upworthy on Friday, November 10, 2017

The team was also able to capture a weird, rare event known as coral fluorescence, which is well worth a watch. If you'd like to find out more about the film, you can visit their website.

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When a great white shark washed up on a beach, these rescuers put it in a pool.

If you came face to face with the shark from "Jaws," what would you do?

Swim away? Splash the police chief? Find a bigger boat? I imagine it'd be a pretty heart-pounding encounter — one that any sensible person would be eager to escape.

What would make someone not only get close to that shark but actually grab hold of it — then drop it into a public swimming pool?

On Monday, Sept. 11, beachgoers at Australia's Manly Beach, just north of Sydney, were stunned after a nearly six-foot-long great white shark washed up on the sand right next to them.

One man, Dan Korocz, was having lunch with his family when he spotted the great white; though it was a baby, the shark was quite fearsome. "When you see a real-life shark, it's scary," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "I've got a four-year-old and a two-year-old and we went down to the waters' edge and then it came in."

But the shark wasn't a monster — it needed their help.

Onlookers said the shark looked possibly sick or injured. It wasn't trying to menace anyone — it simply couldn't get itself back out to sea. Someone called a nearby aquarium, the Manly Sea Life Sanctuary, which hustled to save the animal. Using a sling, the Sanctuary workers lifted the great white onto a stretcher, then moved it over to a nearby Fairy Bower saltwater swimming pool.

They got the people out of the water first, of course, but the shark's swim in the pool drew quite an audience before "Fluffy," as the shark's been named, was loaded up in a tank in the back of a pickup truck and taken to the aquarium for observation.

Running into any wild animal can be scary, especially when it's as infamous as a great white, but sharks have more to fear from us then we do from them.

Great whites aren't the monsters movies and popular culture paint them to be. While sharks are potentially dangerous predators, they rarely attack humans. In fact, beachgoers have more to fear from random holes in the beach than shark attacks.

Plus, many shark species are disappearing, the victims of overfishing or bycatch. Yes, sharks are predators, but they help keep the ocean ecosystem in balance — the same way wolves help keep forests healthy.

In the end, the Manly Beach shark found it's way back home.

The Manly Sea Life Sanctuary released the shark out over deep water on Tuesday, Sept. 12, and the rescuers are reportedly optimistic about its survival.

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This diver's photos are spectacular. They also make an important statement.

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Nature Valley

Ralph Pace’s career as a photographer didn’t start underwater. In fact, it started with a jaguar.

He'd decided to go to graduate school for oceanography, but before he could do so, he needed to get some research experience under his belt.

So he headed to Costa Rica.

“I was working on sea turtle projects, but it’s also one of the only places in the world that jaguars actually hunt in packs,” he says. “I called my brother and said, ‘Hey man, you won’t believe this!’ And it was kind of a typical brother thing — he sent me a camera and said ‘Prove it!’”

All photos by Ralph Pace, used with permission.

Pace didn’t grow up knowing he wanted to be a photographer, much less an underwater one. In fact, he was pre-med in college and hadn’t even been on a dive until he traveled abroad to Australia.

But once he realized the ocean was his calling, he headed to Scripps Institute of Oceanography. And after his encounter with the jaguars, he quickly realized he wanted to pair his newfound photography skills with his love of the ocean.

It didn’t take long for Pace to turn his camera toward the water to start telling stories about conservation.

He already had a passion for the environment itself. And when he started doing photography work on conservation projects, he quickly discovered a strong preference for working with scientists when taking his photos.

“They’re gonna show you the best stuff in the best way, in such a way that you know you’re not harming any animals,” he says. “Those are really the guys on the front lines of conservation.”

He started reaching out to scientists he already knew from his graduate work at Scripps and began going on projects involving sea turtles, sturgeon, swordfish, and more. Slowly, he went from simply documenting the projects to actually using his photos to tell important stories that he felt people needed to hear — landing him on the front lines of the conservation movement too.

Pace doesn’t take photos of just anything — he goes out of his way to find stories that no one has heard and bring them to light.

In many cases, that means traveling to places that most people can’t reach and will likely never get to see themselves.

“You show people this incredible world that they kinda didn’t even know existed,” he says. After all, “How do you get somebody excited about something if they can’t picture it, can’t relate to it?”

By bringing unreachable sights to people through his photos, Pace is able to bring the support to the causes they represent — like ocean conservation.

And that, he says, is the power of photography.

"With photos you have a really unique opportunity to grab someone’s attention," he says. "You take a famous photo of, say, the 'Afghan Girl' that Steve McCurry took for the cover of National Geographic. You take that picture, and it grabs everyone’s attention and they read an article about it, and at the end of it people are sending millions of dollars to refugees abroad."

Being a photographic trailblazer doesn’t always mean traveling the world though. Sometimes, it means staying put and finding stories nearby.

“I think you’re a lot more valuable if you can work in your backyard and tell stories that are close to home,” Pace says. “I tell people I’m going out to work with sea turtles in San Diego and they say, ‘There are no sea turtles here!’ They’ve lived here their whole lives and they don’t know there’s a population of sea turtles here.”

Pace’s mission is to bring untold stories to light, and sometimes those overlooked stories are nearby.

He's just one man, but Pace is confident that his stories can have a big impact on ocean ecosystems.

Ocean conservation is a huge and complex movement, full of giant and sometimes overwhelming problems. But even one story about one particular animal can have positive effects on the whole environment.

“Sometimes, by saving one thing, we create a sort of umbrella to save a lot of things underneath it,” Pace says.

He uses Costa Rica, where he worked with sea turtles but also saw jaguar conservation efforts, as an example. Oftentimes people can feel like they’re competing for resources in order to save their species, but the way Pace sees it, it’s all one story.

“Why work in competition with the jaguar folks?” he says. “Let’s protect the whole stretch of beach. Let’s work together to make sure there’s lots of sea turtle habitats so that when their populations rebound, it also provides food for the jaguar.’”

He brings that same philosophy to all the projects he photographs. By bringing one untold story to light, Pace’s photography can attract support and resources to entire ecosystems.

Though photography is a pretty specific skill, Pace's passion for new information is something we can all incorporate into our lives.

Spreading the knowledge of ocean conservation — whether though photography, writing, science, or just talking over the dinner table — is how Pace believes we will ultimately save our underwater environments.

"That's what telling stories can do," he says. "You take people to places they've never been and you introduce them to things they've never heard about. And hopefully that allows to them to make better decisions that are ultimately gonna make this planet a better place. That's all you can really hope for."

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