Slow motion filming techniques transform amazing wildlife moments into full scale events, and simple action into incredibly detailed video sequences. The results are impossible to imagine let alone perceive with the naked eye. When a sequence filmed at a high frame rate (fps) is played back in normal time (24fps), the action appears to slow down. As camera technology improves, ultra high-speed footage of over 1,000fps produces ever more astonishing images. Hidden secrets are revealed, new science is discovered and tiny subtleties in animal behaviour become perceptible. Explore some of the most memorable and glorious super slow motion sequences of the natural world ever filmed.
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Sophisticated songsters
How do canaries sing continuously for minutes on end?
How do canaries sing continuously for minutes on end?
Penguins can fly
Female emperor penguins returning from a summer at sea are sleek and fat.
Female emperor penguins returning from a summer at sea are sleek and fat.
Air control
The versatility of bird wings in flight illustrated in slow motion.
The versatility of bird wings in flight illustrated in slow motion.
Leadership challenge
Ultra-slow motion captures mighty male hippos in a dangerous challenge.
If he is to stand any chance of breeding, a wandering hippo must challenge the one male that controls all the females on that stretch of the Luangwe river. But the harem-owner isn't about to relinquish control without a very big fight. But will it be a fight to the finish?
Running on water
Ultra-slow motion shows the Jesus Christ lizard's novel escape technique.
The basilisk lizard isn’t also called the Jesus Christ lizard for nothing. When threatened, this unique reptile takes to the waters of Belize and moves its long-toed feet so fast that it can – quite literally – run on water. Miracle of nature? You decide...
Atlantic sailfish
Atlantic sailfish are found in tropical and temperate parts of the Atlantic Ocean,...
Swallow
Swallows are
Bats
Bats are the only mammals that truly fly, rather than just gliding.
Eyelash viper
Eyelash vipers are arguably the world's most beautiful snakes - and one of its most...
Brown basilisk
Brown basilisks are one of the lizards nicknamed the 'Jesus lizard' for their ability to...
Brown bear
Brown bears are some of the largest carnivores on Earth.
Bumblebees
Vital pollinators of...
Cheetah
Cheetahs are found in sub-Saharan Africa and Northern Iran.
Clark's grebe
Clark's grebes were once thought to a lighter coloured variation or morph of the western...
Common bottlenose dolphin
Common bottlenose dolphins are widespread, except in polar waters.
Kestrel
Kestrels are the most common bird of prey in Europe, although their numbers have...
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are one of Britain’s most interesting birds.
Pheasant
Pheasants are one of the UK's most colourful birds.
Hobby
Hobbies are the flying aces among falcons.
Flying fish
Flying fish actually glide rather than truly fly.
Geckos
Geckos are small lizards famous for their ability to walk up walls and other sheer...
Greater bulldog bat
Greater bulldog bats are one of only a handfull of bat species that primarily eat fish...
Great spotted woodpecker
Great spotted woodpeckers are the most widespread and numerous woodpecker in the UK.
Great white shark
Great white sharks are at the very top of the marine food chain.
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamuses are found in Africa where they require habitats with water deep enough to...
Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are a diverse family of over 300 species.
Butterflies and moths
Elegant and beautiful, butterflies and moths never fail to impress.
Lizards
Since emerging from water millions of years ago, lizards have diversified into a weird...
Nile crocodile
Nile crocodiles are the much feared reptilian predators of Africa's rivers and lakes.
Northern gannet
Gannets are magnificent seabirds, whose British population occupies many of Scotland’s...
Northern goshawk
Northern goshawks are strong, powerful
Olive baboon
Olive baboons are the most broadly distributed species of baboon, ranging through most...
Osprey
Ospreys are some of the most widespread
Red kite
The red kite is a striking bird of prey with deep red plumage, a grey head and light...
Rufous elephant shrew
Rufous elephant shrews are small mouse-like animals found on the plains, savannas and...
Stoat
Stoats are completely white in winter, except for the black tips of their tails.
Triceratops
Together with the bony frill behind its extraordinarily large head, the three...
Verreaux's sifaka
Verreaux's sifakas are tree-dwelling lemurs of the Madagascan forests.
Dipper
Dippers have evolved a superb ability to hunt underwater.
Shallow seas
Shallow seas cover the continental shelves.
Adapted to swimming
Adaptations for swimming enables animals to move around in water.
Courtship display
Courtship displays are performed by animals seeking to advertise their willingness to...
Adapted to flying
Flying, in its true sense, is the ability to move through the air under your own power...
Predator
Predators are creatures that catch and kill other animals for food.
Adapted to running
Running and walking evolved as a method of getting around when life emerged from water...
Echolocation and ultrasound
Ultrasound is high frequency sound that's above the range of human hearing.
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