Aerial footage captured the moment a bird released a barrage of feces toward a great white shark in an attempt to throw off the predator that was attempting to attack it. Footage shared on YouTube by Carlos Gauna, a photographer and drone pilot in California, showed the moment the jet crossed the water towards the other animal.
The “smoke screen” worked and was sufficient to allow possible prey to escape, gaining “heroic” fame on social media, where the video, shot at sea in the United States, garnered more than 600,000 views in four days .
The bird was identified by the video’s owner as a cormorant, or cormorant, an aquatic bird that, unlike other marine species, does not have what is known as the “uropygic gland” that would make its wings waterproof.
“The cormorant can’t just fly like other birds,” explained Carlos, commenting on the video.
“That’s because its wings aren’t waterproof, which makes it easier to dive in search of fish, but it can do scenes like this.” [de perseguição por outros predadores] much more common,” he explained, noting that hunting at sea is part of the way these birds feed.
Captioning the images, the American said the animal encounter was “one of the funniest he’s ever witnessed.”
“The bird uses a very interesting defense mechanism,” he added.
Watch the video of the bird’s “escape” towards the shark in the player below (approx. 5:07):