Visit ARKive - one of Wildscreen’s key initiatives - for more photos and videos of the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis)  |
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Thursday 11 August 2011 Bird of prey video spreads its wings online
Bristol based wildlife charity Wildscreen has seen an incredible rise in visitors to its ARKive project (www.arkive.org), an award winning online educational resource profiling the world’s endangered species, to view the osprey in action (http://www.arkive.org/osprey-video). In the last two weeks links to the video footage, which shows stunning shots of the osprey fishing, have flown around the globe, being passed virally from country to country, continent to continent. During this time, the video has been watched an astounding 743,716 times, much to the delight of Wildscreen. The charity uses the power of wildlife imagery in a bid to engage and inspire audiences to care about the natural world, and on ARKive visitors can view films and photos of over 13,606 different species. Holding 80,000 photos and 8,000 film clips, visitors can explore planet Earth’s wonderful biodiversity; from the mighty blue whale to the diminutive pygmy seahorse, from the well-known species such as the tiger and great white shark, to the more unusual aye-aye or gorgeted puffleg. Accompanying the imagery are scientific fact-files, so that visitors can find out more about the species, from its habitat and biology, to the threats facing it and the conservation projects taking place around the world to help protect its future. The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also known as the fish hawk, is found on every continent except Antarctica and typically lives near still or slow-flowing water. As such this magnificent bird of prey occurs in a wide variety of habitats, from lakes, rivers and wooded swamps with open water, to shorelines. Foraging almost exclusively for live fish, the osprey’s hunting technique sees it hovering or circling in the air, before plunging down feet first to snatch fish from the water’s surface with its long talons, at times completely submerging itself in the process. Wildscreen has been tracing the online following of this video and has found that the excitement began in Quebec, Canada a few weeks ago, spreading to France and Belgium, before last week rapidly moving through English-speaking areas of Canada and later the US. The success of the clip, which is currently being viewed over 80,000 times a day, appears to be making its way back across the Atlantic to Germany. Who started the online buzz remains a mystery, however the charity hopes the appeal of the osprey will continue. Richard Edwards, Chief Executive of Wildscreen said: “The popularity of the osprey footage on ARKive over the last two weeks has been phenomenal and every day visits to the ARKive website continue to rise. “Wildscreen uses the power of wildlife imagery to enthuse audiences about the wonders of the natural world, and this clip certainly appears to be transcending all nations and cultures. We believe that by showing people what species look like through films and photos, and what makes them so special, we can help promote greater understanding of life on Earth and the need for its conservation.” Ends Contact: Helen Shrimpton, Communications & Marketing Manager
Previous press releasesMonday 7 March 2011 Tuesday 1 March 2011 Thursday 6 January 2011 Wednesday 13 October 2010 Wednesday 22 September 2010 Friday 21 May 2010 Wednesday 27 May 2009 Friday 27 March 2009 Tuesday 10 February 2009 Monday 2 February 2009 Wednesday 7 January 2009 Thursday 10 April 2008
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A spectacular sequence of osprey video footage is taking the internet world by storm, as people from around the globe share the wonders of the natural world online.
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© Wildscreen 2012 Charity no. 299450 |
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