Somehow, a large orange octopus has been riding a mako shark off the coast of New Zealand. Researchers are mystified.

One summer day off the northern coast of New Zealand, Rochelle Constantine noticed something strange on the water’s surface.

An octopus hitched a ride on the back of a mako shark in extraordinary nature footage released by the University of Auckland.

A shortfin mako shark, the fastest-swimming shark in the world, was caught on camera with an octopus catching a ride on its back off the coast of New Zealand.

Researchers in New Zealand captured the odd pairing on video, but they still don’t know how to explain the behavior ...

The octopus, on the other hand, firmly maintained its position on the shark's head. The shortfin mako shark is an endangered species, primarily due to fishing for its fins. This observation highlights ...

A recent sighting in New Zealand showed that the sea is full of surprises. While on a research trip, marine scientists observed an octopus attached to the head of a shortfin mako shark.

Researchers in New Zealand saw a colorful blob on top of a shark’s head. When they looked closer, they realized it had eight ...

About 30 countries back the three proposals concerning species of mako shark and a range of critically endangered ray species in the guitarfish and wedgefish families Sharks have stalked the ...

"A large metallic grey dorsal fin signalled a big shark, a short-fin mako," Constantine wrote in the piece published March 11. "But wait, what was that orange patch on its head? A buoy? An injury?

The team was off the Northern coast of New Zealand in the Hauraki Gulf in 2023 when they spotted a shortfin mako shark with an orange blob attached to its back. “The ‘sharktopus’ encounter ...