“When they identify that you aren’t a threat they can give you that glimpse of what nature really is,” says Eliasson in a behind-the-scenes clip from Bears: Ultimate Survivors. The film introduces viewers to the charismatic bears of Canada and Alaska as the predators learn to adapt and survive in a world of climate change and human encroachment. In the snippets below Eliasson and Genest explain why they were drawn to bears in the first place and what these animals mean to them:

Watch the rest of the series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors. 

Raising cubs can put huge strain on female grizzlies and they must adopt survival strategies to ensure their vulnerable youngsters are given a fighting chance. As Eliasson and Genest documented the bears feeding, fighting, playing and interacting, they couldn't help but anthropomorphise the families they filmed: "It's exactly like us, but they're bears," says Genest.

Watch the rest of the series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors. 

Watch the rest of the series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here. 

Watch the rest of the series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here. 

Rival bears are not the only neighbours these bruins must deal with – oftentimes the animals hunt and roam in close proximity to humans. Thankfully, there are few incidents where people and bears clash. For Eliasson, it's further proof that these animals are not out to get us and we simply have to respect their space. 

Watch the clip here:

Watch the rest of the behind-the-scenes series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors.

Watch the rest of the behind-the-scenes series here, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors.

"That's when the bears really let you into their world; that's when they start doing 'bear things,'" Eliasson explained in this behind-the-scenes clip from the making of Bears: Ultimate Survivors. Watch the video here:

Watch the rest of the series below, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here. 

Get to know Peanut in this third episode of our Bears: Ultimate Survivors behind-the-scenes series:

Watch episode one and two of the series below, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here. 

Wildlife filmmakers Kelsey Eliasson and Karine Genest have spent countless hours in the presence of these hefty omnivores and know only too well how to respect them from a distance. In the second episode of our Bears: Ultimate Survivors behind-the-scenes series, Eliasson and Genest talk about their experiences filming black bears and explain how sometimes the best-practice rules don't apply:

Watch episode one of the series below, or learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here. 

But capturing these incredible animals in their natural habitat is not without its challenges. Harsh conditions, unpredictable bear behaviour and those pesky trees that keep popping up in front of the drone are just some of the difficulties they have had to overcome. For Bears: Ultimate Survivors the filming duo documented a number of different bears fighting to survive. Adapting to climate change and humans faster than anyone thought possible, these charismatic, captivating and often deadly predators still rule the cold north. 

In our new behind-the-scenes series, you'll get to know the bears, share in their triumphs and failures and learn what life is like for wildlife filmmakers trying to capture these incredible animals on camera. Here's the first episode (more to come soon):

Learn more about Bears: Ultimate Survivors here and watch the tailer for the film below:

This rare Cuvier's beaked whale died shortly after stranding on a Canadian beach earlier this month, and local experts recently performed a necropsy to figure out what went wrong.

The animal was initially spotted alive by local residents on a beach in Nova Scotia, but died before wildlife officials arrived on the scene. This is the first documented Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) to wash up on the country's eastern coast, giving local scientists a rare opportunity to examine a species that is usually difficult to track and study.

"It was a sad but incredible experience to see this rare species up close as they are normally found hundreds of miles offshore in very deep water and are quite elusive, making sightings of them very rare here," explains the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS), whose team worked with other experts to examine the whale. Local veterinary students also got the chance to sit in on the procedure.

Cuvier’s beaked whales are deep-diving creatures rarely seen near the shore, so the animal's appearance in coastal waters was the first clue that something had gone wrong, the team adds. 

"Conducting a necropsy was important, not only to document this incredibly rare animal, but also to try to determine the cause of death," says MARS. 

Unfortunately, the necropsy did not turn up any obvious signs of disease or injury, so it's still not clear why this young male died, though further microscopic tests might still shed light on the mystery. 

"Sadly, we did find a small amount of rope in the stomach of the animal, though it was unclear if it contributed to the death of the whale," says the team.

This specimen will now make its way to the New Brunswick Museum, where the skeleton will be cleaned and assembled for display in the museum's whale collection.

Not surprisingly, we know very little about this enigmatic animal, but now, thanks to a collaboration between Jellyfish Research South Spain (JRSS) and Austria's Zoo Vienna, that's about to change. For the first time, Rhizostoma luteum has been bred in captivity.

While conducting a survey off the Spanish coast, JRSS biologist Karen Kienberger had a chance encounter with the rare jellyfish. Eager to learn more about the species, she brought a large adult specimen back to her lab, where she discovered the animal was sexually mature. 

"She collected the [jellyfish's] larvae and sent them to us, in hopes that we could breed and raise them to adulthood," explains Zoo Vienna staffer Johanna Bukovsky. "It was a challenge, even for the expert aquarists we have here."

Despite the recent desktop-tank craze, caring for jellyfish is extremely difficult. The tendrilled invertebrates feed on live prey, and are sensitive to changes in their environment. As you can imagine, attempting to raise a species we know very little about was a daunting task for the team. 

"You don't know anything about the needs of the animal," says Bukovsky. "What water temperature do they need? What do they eat? What current?"

The animals were fed a mixture of phytoplankton and brine shrimp, a cue taken from other, better-known jellyfish species. 

"We managed to raise 30 babies from larva, to polyp, to jellyfish," says Bukovsky. "By keeping them in captivity, we are able to collect critical scientific data, while Karen continues to do research in the wild." The team even managed to document each step in the jellyfish's development – something that would otherwise be impossible in such a rarely seen animal.

Jellyfish are related to anemones and coral (family Cnidaria), and at certain stages of life, you can see the resemblance. During development, each larvae will hook itself to a rock and grow into a polyp – a stationary factory that produces baby jellyfish, each one a clone of the original larva. Eventually, the tiny jellies growing within bud off the top, and pulse their way out to sea.

The babies might be small (my squishy), but the bell of an adult R. luteum can reach lengths of 60cm (2ft). It's far from the biggest jellyfish in the world (just look at this ten-metre wonder), but staff are expecting these youngsters to be somewhere in the region of 40kg (88lbs) when they're fully grown.

"The bigger of the babies already have a sting," adds Bukovsky, but as in other jellies in the order Rhizostomae, that sting doesn't come from where you'd expect. The billowing structures you see in the photos aren't actually tentacles – they're oral arms. These fleshy, mouth-covered folds of tissue help with filter feeding in the open ocean. The sting comes from the jellyfish's thin thread cells, which are hidden below the bell.

With jellyfish "starter kits" already sent to Germany and Japan's Kamo Aquarium (and some heading to France soon), Rhizostoma luteum might not be a mystery for long. 

The image was captured in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park using the stealthy BeetleCam, a small remote-controlled camera on wheels. "A month ago I found out I was going to be here during [the eclipse]," writes Lucas on his blog. "This would be the last opportunity to photograph such an occurrence for 18 years! I immediately set about planning how I could take a photograph of this phenomenon with an African twist.

Determined to find some wild subjects, Lucas cruised the park at night (with special permissions from the rangers). "I first went to where I had seen lions the evening before. On arrival, the lions had gone but I could hear their faint roars in the distance. I followed the sound through the African night and eventually found the lions just as the eclipse was starting."

The moon, also known as a "blood moon", appears a deep crimson because of the way light interacts with the Earth's atmosphere. During the eclipse, most of the sun's light is shadowed by the Earth as it moves between the moon and our sun. But some of that light manages to get around our pale blue dot. As the light travels through our particle-rich atmosphere, almost all wavelengths are filtered out, leaving only the red behind.

"This was going to be a challenging shot to achieve for so many reasons," says Lucas. "Balancing the foreground brightness with the dim red moon was an exercise in guestimation, as was trying to compose the shot in the pitch darkness. And of course, I had to do this while trying to avoid the pride of lions running off with my BeetleCam! However, I persevered and shortly before the moonset, I managed to get [it]."

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Top header image: Tyler Sichelski/Flickr

"It was quite the face-off," Lukasik explains. "I was shooting two large eels under a ledge – not doing anything out of the ordinary, when suddenly, one of them decided to get rid of me."

Sodwana Bay is known for its high density of honeycomb morays (Gymnothorax favagineus), which commonly reach two metres in length. But Bart explains that the fish are almost always very docile. "I've had some amazing encounters with them here," he says. "I was caught completely off guard, and had to make a run for it. Needless to say, I am much more cautious of them now, even when they seem completely ignorant of my presence."

For the full clip, and more marine life from Sodwana Bay, check out "Wild Oceans":

Top header image: Daniel/Flickr

The headlines seem to focus on the shark's "razor-sharp teeth" and their proximity to the filmmaker's hand, as well as the "blood still smeared" on the shark's face "after a fresh kill".

But for Riggs, this encounter was awe-inspiring rather than frightening, and he notes that the shark's behaviour wasn't aggressive at all. "Notice how the water isn't moving," he says. "The shark approached the camera with caution." 

As for the blood on the shark's face, the story here is also far less dramatic. In fact, it's very common to find scars and scratches on the snouts of great whites – largely because the animals they eat do not just roll over and die. Australian fur seals, for example, can reach a whopping 790 pounds (360kg), and boast sharp teeth and claws for defence. Landing a meal means the shark often takes a hit or two. That's why the blood you see in the photo is almost certainly that of the predator and not the prey.

"This photo is quite dramatic," admits Riggs. "But it really highlights how awesome these apex predators are. Great whites don't have hands, so she was researching the only way she knows how, which is with her mouth. I wanted to post [the photo] because it's real, but she wasn't being aggressive. She wasn't attempting to kill anyone." Not convinced? See for yourself:

Top header image: Ken Bondy/Flickr

With over 6,000 entries received from around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest awards programme honouring creative excellence among communications professionals. This year saw Earth Touch News honoured with two gold awards of excellence: one in the News Website category and the other for our Earth Touch Insider series. We also received a silver award of distinction for our Little Adventures Big Planet series. This isn’t the first time the Earth Touch Insider has received recognition; the investigative series has nabbed both a W3 award and a Webby Official Honoree status in the past.

Earth Touch News Network also went on to win the Best New Media award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. This festival is the oldest of its kind in the world and its mission is to "recognize and honor outstanding creative excellence in film and video, validate brilliant abilities and promote future filmmaking."

“Delivering daily news about conservation and wildlife can be both rewarding and disheartening as we see the threats and brutal realities faced by the beings that share the planet with us," says ETNN head Manager Stephen Embelton. "But receiving these awards inspires us to continue. We're excited to be growing an audience that engages, shares and learns from our content. We thank all involved for this recognition." 

You can watch the both the Earth Touch Insider and Little Adventures Big Planet series below: