Photographer Franco Banfi and his fellow divers were following this pod of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) when the giants suddenly seemed to fall into a vertical slumber. This phenomenon was first studied in 2008 when a team of biologists from the UK and Japan inadvertently drifted into a group of non-responsive sperm whales floating just below the surface.

Baffled by the behavior, the scientists analyzed data from tagged whales and discovered that these massive marine mammals spend about 7 percent of their time taking short (6- to 24-minute) rests in this shallow vertical position. Scientists think these brief naps may, in fact, be the only time the whales sleep.

Photo by Franco Banfi, a finalist in the 2017 Big Picture Competition.

You can see more of the Switzerland-based photographer’s underwater photography on his website and Instagram.


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Opossums attract and then kill thousands of ticks per acre, per week, making them one of our best allies in stopping the spread of Lyme disease, researchers say.


A study compared squirrels, mice and opossums, which all eat ticks, and found opossums were the most effective exterminators.

Ticks favor opossums twice as much as the other rodents, the researchers, from Syracuse University, found.

Fortunately, for humans, possums are also the most effective at killing the disease-carrying pests.

Opossums kill almost every tick that occupies them, the study found. A single opossum kills over 5500 ticks per week.

“Opossums are extraordinarily good groomers it turns out – we never would have thought that ahead of time – but they kill the vast majority – more than 95% percent of the ticks that try to feed on them,” disease ecologist Rick Ostfeld explained.

“So these opossums are walking around the forest floor, hoovering up ticks right and left, killing over 90% of these things, and so they are really protecting our health.”

Worldwide, more than 1.3 million people die each year of infectious diseases transmitted by a vector, such as a mosquito, sand fly or tick, according to the World Health Organization.

Vector-borne diseases also inflict heavy tolls on crops, livestock and wildlife, the study’s authors wrote.

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Almost every day Bret Mortimer, drives her dog Fritz to a local park near her home in Salt Lake City. So, when it was vet appointment day, Fritz thought he was going to the park to play with friends.

Well, Fritz must have felt betrayed when he found out he was at the vet for a dental visit.

When Bret picked him up, her beloved pal gave her the cold shoulder. He refused to even look at her.

Fritz being mad bc I took him to the dentist: a thread pic.twitter.com/3FGtx265CI

— Bret (@bretmortimer) July 27, 2019

Fritz is a 2-year-old lab mix that Bret adopted when he was still a puppy.

"I named him Fritz because the lady who helped me adopt him had been calling him Fritz because he looked like her grandpa's dog who passed away. She started crying when she was telling me that and I felt bad so I promised I would keep his name Fritz," Bret said.

And since he's been getting so much attention, she started an Instagram page for him to show off his hilarious personality.

"Another good Fritz moment that happens every time I get my suitcase out to pack for a trip."

View this post on Instagram

every single time @bretmortimer has to leave for a trip I give her these eyes and hope she stays . . . . . #fritzmortimer

A post shared by Fritz (@fritzmortimer) on Jul 29, 2019 at 5:38am PDT

An embarrassing moment

View this post on Instagram

yeah sure, that was a lil embarrassing mom, but what the hell is that laugh? toe ho ho ho? what a jabroni @bretmortimer

A post shared by Fritz (@fritzmortimer) on Aug 1, 2019 at 7:40am PDT

Bret says Fritz has since forgiven her for taking him to his dental appointment.


For more photos and videos, follow @fritzmortimer on Instagram.

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Someone had dumped this dog in the middle of nowhere. Eduardo Reis and his team of cyclist friends were training on a track in Brazil when one of them got a flat.