Advances in drones, underwater cameras and remote sensors made 2025 a standout year for wildlife video, capturing rare species and surprising behavior. Highlights include the first clear video of a colossal squid, an anglerfish filmed near the Canary Islands, and a 15-inch stick bug found in Australia. Night cameras in Germany revealed invasive rats hunting bats — a behavior with ecological and viral-transmission implications — while orcas were filmed ramming boats, killing a young great white, and teaming with dolphins to hunt salmon.
The Most Thrilling — and Strangest — Wildlife Videos of 2025
An orca calf and adult swim in the Norwegian fjords. Orcas have been among the most popular subjects of social media videos. They have been filmed ramming into boats (possibly playing) and hunting with other species.BRIAN SKERRY, Nat Geo image collection
Advances in cameras, drones and remote sensors made 2025 a banner year for wildlife video: rare species were recorded for the first time, surprising behaviors were documented, and stark footage highlighted threats to animals and ecosystems.
Rare Sightings and Surprising Encounters
One of the year's most remarkable moments was the first clear video of a colossal squid, a deep-sea giant long known from fragments but rarely seen alive. Such footage offered a rare glimpse into the lives of animals that normally dwell far below the ocean surface.
Anglerfish Near the Surface
Early in the year, researchers filmed a black sea devil (a deep-sea anglerfish) off the coast of the Canary Islands — an unexpected sight since these fish typically inhabit depths down to about 6,500 feet. Scientists proposed three explanations: the anglerfish may have swallowed prey whose swim bladder later expanded, forcing it upward; it may have been carried up in a column of warm, rising water from underwater volcanic activity; or a deep-diving predator may have consumed and then expelled it near the surface.
A Giant Stick Bug in Australia
In Australia’s cloud forests, scientists discovered a stick bug roughly 15 inches long that weighs about 44 grams — the mass of a golf ball. Its size underscores how much biodiversity remains undocumented, especially among insects: researchers estimate there may be around 30 million insect species worldwide, of which only about two million have been described.
Rats Hunting Bats — And The Health Implications
Night-vision cameras in a dark German cave recorded invasive rats standing at the cave mouth, grabbing bats in flight and consuming them. Scientists from the Natural History Museum in Berlin published repeated observations of this hunting behavior in November. Beyond the ecological impact on local bat populations, researchers warned that such predation could create new pathways for viruses to move from bats to rats and potentially to people.
Orcas: Mischief, Predation, And New Partnerships
Orcas again dominated viral and scientific attention in 2025. Off Portugal, footage captured orcas ramming a sailing vessel until it sank — a behavior researchers have observed in the Mediterranean for several years and suspect may be a form of play. In the Gulf of California, a pod of orcas cooperated to immobilize a juvenile great white shark and remove its liver, showing the species’ complex hunting skills.
New observational tools added further insight: drones and suction-cup cameras temporarily attached to orcas filmed at least 25 instances of orcas teaming up with white-sided dolphins to herd and capture salmon, revealing an unexpected interspecies hunting partnership.
Reconstructing an Ancient Predator
Researchers also released an animated reconstruction of a Cambrian priapulid worm that lived around 500 million years ago in what is now the Grand Canyon. The predator, nicknamed the "penis worm," is shown with a retractable, tooth-lined throat and concentric rows of feathery teeth — a reminder of how deep time informs our understanding of predator evolution.
Why These Videos Matter
Together, these videos entertained millions and advanced science: rare footage helps document species distributions and behaviors, while troubling clips draw attention to conservation and public-health concerns. Improved filming technology is allowing scientists — and the public — to witness animal life in unprecedented detail.
