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Wildlife camera catches rare behavior of a once-vanished species: 'We can't quite believe this incredible footage'

Wildlife camera catches rare behavior of a once-vanished species: 'We can't quite believe this incredible footage'

Yahoo03-03-2025

Three rare bitterns were spotted together at the Somerset Levels, captured by a hidden wildlife camera, the Somerset Leveller reported.
These birds, which had disappeared from the United Kingdom in the 1870s, are making an inspiring comeback. The Somerset Levels now hosts one of the U.K.'s largest breeding populations of these mysterious marsh-dwellers.
Male bitterns stand out for their distinctive spring calls: booming, foghorn-like sounds that ring out across the wetlands from March to May as they search for mates.
The Somerset Wildlife Trust shared its excitement about the remarkable video.
"We can't quite believe this incredible footage captured earlier this month — not one, not two, but three bitterns are all on camera together," a spokesperson said. "Bitterns are elusive birds, and to see three all together in one place is such a rare sight.
"Although it's difficult to say for sure, we believe these birds are likely all young males, sizing each other up and getting ready to compete for mates in the spring."
This success story shows what happens when we restore natural spaces. After vanishing due to habitat loss and hunting, bitterns have bounced back thanks to wetland protection. Today, more than 50 pairs live in the Avalon Marshes area alone, drawing bird enthusiasts from across Britain.
Bitterns aren't the only British bird on the rise; turtle dove populations have grown by 25% in Western Europe after a ban on hunting them.
The hidden camera that caught this magical moment was set up through the Species Survival Fund, a partnership between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
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And there's more good news from these restored wetlands: Signs of beaver activity were spotted in January, showing how protecting one species creates space for others to thrive.
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.

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‘Absolutely shocking': Netflix documentary examines how the Titan sub disaster happened
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‘Absolutely shocking': Netflix documentary examines how the Titan sub disaster happened

If you were sentient in the summer of 2023, you probably remember the feverish speculation, vicarious horror, snap consternation and armchair sleuthing after the disappearance of the submersible called Titan during a commercial voyage to the wreck of the Titanic. The Titan sub disaster was inescapable for weeks as the story evolved from critical rescue mission – the best-case scenario being a mechanical failure deep in the North Atlantic with 96 hours of oxygen for the five passengers, which you better believe became a countdown clock on cable news – to tragic recovery operation. Related: 'Incredibly disturbing': docuseries goes inside jaw-dropping LA mortuary scandal The sub, it turned out, had imploded at 3,300 meters beneath the surface, 90 minutes into a dive that was supposed to reach 3,800 meters deep. All five passengers – British explorer Hamish Harding, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman, French diver Paul-Henri Nargeolet and submersible owner Stockton Rush – were killed instantly. Even as the search for the sub, whose wreckage was eventually returned to land, continued in earnest, concerning reports about the safety record at OceanGate, the company which operated the vehicle, began to emerge: that a whistleblower had declared implosion of the sub's trademark carbon fiber hull a mathematical certainty years earlier. That Rush, the company's founder and CEO, pursued commercial voyages anyway, eluding any type of third-party certification. For the majority of the public, the story ended along those lines: a preventable tragedy, another sin of human hubris at arguably the most famous shrine to the folly of human hubris in history. That is not wrong; according to the new Netflix documentary Titan: The OceanGate Disaster, the sub's implosion was virtually guaranteed by its design. 'I'm convinced, based on the research and the discussions that I've had, that the submersible Titan could have imploded at any time,' said the film's director, Mark Monroe. In fact, it was 'absolutely shocking' that Titan made as many successful dives – 80 attempts, 13 to Titanic depth, between 2021 and 2022 – as it did. But for those who either worked at OceanGate, were tasked with the investigation or loved someone lost on board, the story is much more complicated, and concerning, than a design flaw. Another film would proceed through an exact timeline of Titan's final mission on 18 June, 2023; include footage of the wreckage or diagrams of its descent coordinated to text messages sent to its surface-level team; play the audio of its implosion, recorded 900 miles away by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration device; or allow viewers to see Rush's wife Wendy hear the implosion, whose sound reached its support ship, Polar Prince, before their last text message, allowing them to mistakenly assume the sub was fine. The Netflix film, made by the veteran production company Story Syndicate, doesn't do any of that, eschewing a Seconds from Disaster-type narrative and instead focusing on the nearly decade-long procession toward disaster, through numerous decisions prizing flashy ambition over safety. 'It's scarier, in a way, to understand the decision-making over the 10-year period that led to that moment,' said Monroe. 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Photos show possible treasure from 300-year-old 'holy grail' of shipwrecks off Colombia
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President Jackson's legacy can be found throughout Middle Tennessee
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