Nature

Incredible Footage Shows What Seems Like Underwater Ghosts, But Can You Guess What They Really Are

This footage captured by an American aerial cameraman in a microlight shows what appear to be underwater ghosts moving through the sea off the Mexican coast.

The images were captured by Aerial photographer Joe Orsi, 30, originally from Kansas in the US, and now living in Mexico.

Explaining what can be seen, he said that what appears to be a deep blue sea is actually unnaturally dark because it is filled with sardines.

Joe Orsi,30, filming The blue ghost that hunting cormorants diving through the bait ball from above with a full camera in Baja California Sur, Mexico. (@skypacking/Newsflash)

The black dots at the heart of the white shapes are aquatic birds that have dived into the water, and the white space around them is caused as the fish swim out of the way and give a wide berth to the hunting seabirds – revealing the ocean below.

As the birds swim left and right and dive into the mass of fish, they swim out of the way, leaving an open area to the sea bottom through which light can pass, as can be seen in the second video.

Orsi told Newsflash: “The black colour in the video is a large bait ball of sardines. The blue ghost-looking things are hunting cormorants (aquatic birds also known as shags) diving through the bait ball, which moves out of their way and reveals the ocean.”

Joe Orsi,30, filming The blue ghost that hunting cormorants diving through the bait ball from above with a full camera in Baja California Sur, Mexico. (@skypacking/Newsflash)

The phenomenon can be seen more clearly in a second video where he said: “This is a close up of a cormorant diving through the sardines. It was filmed near La Paz in Baja California Sur in Mexico.”

Orsi, who also works remotely as a financial consultant for start ups on a part-time basis, told Newsflash: “Relative to drone photography, where the photographer is separated from its subject by hundreds of feet of air and never personally sees what their camera sees, paramotor photography is highly personal and tells a story about the great lengths the photographer goes to just to stare at their subject with their own eyes.

“I love Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, which is where I learned to fly my paramotor. Baja’s marine life and landscapes never cease to amaze me.”

Joe Orsi,30, filming The blue ghost that hunting cormorants diving through the bait ball from above with a full camera in Baja California Sur, Mexico. (@skypacking/Newsflash)

The American aerial photographer added: “I quit my job and started travelling the world five years ago. As I travelled, I became interested in landscape photography, which eventually led to me buying a drone.

“After years of shooting with my drone, it started to feel formulaic and impersonal so I began searching for a way to get in the air myself.

Orsi told Newsflash: “I started flying my paramotor a year and a half ago and have fallen in love with the sport. I’m hoping to continue travelling with my paramotor and maybe continue south into Central and South America once the borders open up.”

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