Earth Touch

🇪🇨 158 giant tortoises reintroduced to Galapagos island Footage released by Ecuador's environment ministry shows park rangers releasing more than 150 giant tortoises to Floreana Island in Ecuador's famed Galapagos archipelago where they disappeared more than a century ago

We are thrilled to announce that 2 of our productions have been nominated for the 19th annual @SAFTAs_1. Day of the Dragon and Killer Safari - Croc v Hippo are both up for “Best Natural History and Environmental Programme”. Thank you to our incredible team and all our viewers :)

While most cats avoid deep water, tigers are biologically predisposed to an aquatic lifestyle. This footage captures the early development of that instinct, where young cubs, follow their mother into the water. Using their wide, webbed paws as natural paddles, they maintain buoyancy through high muscle density and intuitive coordination. This early proficiency is rooted in maternal imitation and a unique physiology that allows them to regulate body temperature while submerged, turning what is a barrier for other predators into a tactical advantage. VC: Biswajit Mandal #Tiger #Predator #nature #WildIndia #TigerConservation #NatureDocumentary #BigCats #WildlifePhotography

Baby boom continues for critically endangered whales! 🐋 Another North Atlantic right whale mom, “Ghost,” & calf pair has been spotted — bringing this season’s total to 22 calves. Congrats Ghost! 💙 Meet all the mom & calf pairs: oceana.ly/4r54QMd

This video gives a rare glimpse into the "fishy" proclivities of wolves in our area. The video was taken in spring just a short distance from a creek wolves have fished at for many years. This past spring was the 10th year we have documented wolves hunting and catching fish—a behavior that had not been documented in boreal systems such as ours until our work, in part, because it is a tough behavior to observe. What is particularly fascinating is that this wolf was not only carrying a fish but carrying two of them. This is interesting because when we captured this behavior on video for the first time in 2018, we observed a wolf fishing, drop them on the creek bank, and wade back in to continue fishing. I.e., the wolf was not immediately consuming the fish it caught but rather fishing while the fishing was hot, and then once the fishing cooled down, would consume the fish. And this video seems to provide some additional evidence that it might be a widespread strategy wolves use. Two other interesting tidbits from this video: 1.) The wolf that dropped the fish was a yearling wolf. The wolf that grabbed the fish at the end was a different wolf. More specifically, the breeding female of the Half-Moon Pack and the older sister of the yearling wolf. 2.) Surprisingly, the black bear seemed very perplexed at finding this fish, and just left it alone without even taking a little nibble. We would have expected a bear to readily take a free meal like this but apparently not. We have collected of detailed information on how, when, where, and why wolves hunt fish in our area. You can read all about that in our scientific article (which is freely-available at the link below!): Freund et al. 2023. The ethology of wolves foraging on freshwater fish in a boreal ecosystem. Royal Society Open Science. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/1…

Talk about earning your stripes! 🐯❄️ For thousands of years, Siberian tigers have occupied the southeastern corner of Russia, where winter temperatures of –20 degrees Fahrenheit are not unusual 😳😱 #RussiasWildTiger is streaming on @DisneyPlus.

Quick, brush up on your whale facts. There will be a quiz: fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/… #WhaleWeek

Here's your chance to vote for your favourite wildlife photo of the year ... earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/…

Sea stars aren't always stationary! This little explorer was showing off its moves in the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument. Using tube feet, it’s cruising along the ocean floor like it’s got somewhere to be – Friday, maybe? More ocean imagery: oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/multimedia/

Some winter moments most never get to see...

Escape the grey days with breathtaking nature and untold stories on @EarthTouch, now on Bolt+ 🌍. A reminder to slow down and reconnect — wherever you’re watching from. Now on Boltplus.tv. Endless Interaction – WATCH, CHAT, SHOP and ENGAGE. #BoltPlus #EarthTouch #InteractiveTV #WatchTogether #BeautifulDays

Two red foxes dash across the frozen edge of Lake Michigan as frigid temperatures allow shelf ice to form along the shoreline.

This video of a tardigrade ambling around a volvox algae colony was captured at 20x magnification by Penny Fenton and placed fourth in Nikon's Small World In Motion competition in 2025. See more winners: on.natgeo.com/3Z3jCar

Usually, deep-sea lizardfish is the king of "staying grounded" on the seafloor, but this one decided to make a midwater debut. Who knew lurking at an extinct hydrothermal vent in the Mariana region required such graceful swimming skills? More videos: oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/multimedia/

Millions of baby red crabs flood the streets of Australia’s Christmas Island during their annual migration - an encouraging surge after years of quieter seasons.

Among the most agile of flying creatures, dragonflies have evolved to perform quick aerial maneuvers—akin to planes in a dogfight—both to attract mates and to catch prey midair. Last year, researchers documented and explained a unique stunt the insects perform so quickly most people never see it. Every few minutes, a dragonfly dives into water and takes off again, turning several forward somersaults as it ascends, a team of biomechanists reported last year at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. The purpose of the behavior? The quick dip cools the insect down, and the loop-the-loops help it dry off by flicking away the water. Learn more: scim.ag/40BnjWs #ScienceMagArchives

When you've just found the ultimate scratching post… A bobcat is barely noticeable nestled in the spiny situation of a saguaro cactus at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Photo by NPS

Probably one of the coolest moments we have had in the field…stumbling upon wolf pups sleeping at the entrance of their den which was a huge old beaver lodge. On this particular day in early May, we were searching clusters of GPS-locations from a collared wolf in this pack to find where it had killed prey. The wolf was a subordinate male wolf and had only spent a few hours on the edge of this beaver meadow so we assumed he was just resting here. I.e., there were no indications, based on the wolf’s movements, that this was a den. We hiked along the meadow edge for a bit and as we got close to where the GPS-locations from the wolf were, an uncollared wolf popped up out of the grass by the lodge about 50 meters away and ran into the forest. That seemed far too coincidental…what are the odds that the GPS-collared wolf had been in this spot a few days ago and now, when we arrive there was a different wolf here. As a result, we immediately started to think the lodge could be a den. We approached the lodge and pulled out our phone to record what we observed. We rounded a side of the lodge, approached the entrance, and we found these 4 pups sounds asleep. What a wild few moments. Of course, we thought this was especially interesting, in part, because the wolves were using a massive beaver lodge—i.e.., the home of one of their primary summer prey—as a den to raise their pups, which then would go onto to hunt and kill beavers as adults.

On #SquirrelAppreciationDay, check out a 2021 Science study that revealed how decision-making and learning capabilities complement the biomechanical adaptations that enable "squirrel parkour." Learn more: scim.ag/4pN2yk2

Can you identify an individual bear just by looking at its face? Probably not. But this new tech can: earthtouchnews.com/discoveries/in…