Why is it Raining Fish? | Weird Animal Facts #2

Hello and welcome to Natural World Facts, in this episode of wierd animal facts Leo will be talking about the sperm whales who adopted a dolphin with scoliosis, the time fish rained on England, the lizard that squirts blood from its eyes, the cuckoo, and the elephants who mourn their dead. - Number 5: The dolphin and the whales This piece of footage taken by scientists depicts a very rare interaction between a small pod of Sperm Whales and an adult bottlenose dolphin. The dolphin appears to have a spinal malformation called scoliosis, which is the abnormal twisting of the spine. This appeared to be the first time this type of friendly interaction had been observed in sperm whales, as the giant cetaceans usually avoid contact with these dolphins. Scientists spotted this event near the Azores Islands, an archipelago about 900 miles off the coast of Portugal. Although inter-species friendships are rare, this isn’t the first case of Dolphins befriending Whales. - Number 4: ‘It’s raining fish’ On the 6th August, 2000, In Norfolk, England, tiny two-inch fish called sprats came raining out of the sky. The phenomenon can be explained, however. Given strong enough winds in thunderstorms, small whirlwinds and mini-tornadoes may form. When these travel over water any small items of debris in their path, such as fish or frogs, may be picked up and can be carried several miles away. In this case, the fish were picked up from the lake by the strong winds, carried by the clouds over urban areas, and dropped. - Number 3: The cuckoo Cuckoo birds have a very interesting approach to parenting as they do not build a nest to lay their eggs in, but instead do so in other bird’s nests. They even rely on the other bird species to look after their young for them. The trick is, it is done without the other bird parent ever suspecting a thing. The cuckoo will wait for the mother to leave before quickly laying her eggs in the nest. Cuckoos have an amazing ability of disguising their own eggs to look similar to that of its nest partner’s. Once hatched, the baby trickster will also drop the other species eggs out of their own nest to secure her own survival. - Number 2: The blood squirting lizards Horned Lizards have a very unusual defensive reaction against their enemies. When threatened, they shoot an aimed stream of blood from out of their eyes by voluntarily increasing the blood pressure in their sinuses until they explode. This stream of blood can reach distances of up to 5 feet. Although the blood is not poisonous, it does create chaos and confusion to the attacker. - Number 1: Mourning elephants Elephants have exhibited a very strange yet familiar behaviour. Unlike many other animals, when a member of the herd dies, they will stay close beside it for some time. They even take leaves, dirt and branches and cover other elephants after they die. Even when they come across elephant bones, they appear to recognise that they belong to one of their species, and spend time investigating the bones in a subdued manner. This empathetic behaviour is a reminder of just how similar elephants are to ourselves. Natural World Facts is a channel dedicated to bringing you fascinating facts about our natural world, and the wonderful animals that we share it with. Subscribe for more videos! Leave a suggestion in the comments for what animal you would like to learn about next. OUR WEBSITE: http://goo.gl/Ngj5V6 TWITTER: http://goo.gl/U4T8JX