BAITBALL READY TO POP

LIKE A living balloon this baitball of sardines is ready to burst when threatened by a pointy nosed sailfish. The photographs, taken off the coast of Isla Mujeres, near Cancun, Mexico, show how these water creatures work cooperatively to cut off a portion of a school of sardines swimming close to the seafloor, and drive them to the surface. American photographer Doug Perrine, 60, managed to capture the moment the sailfish manage to herd the bait into a tightly packed ball, ready to pick off for dinner one-by-one. ‘The sailfish took-turns swimming through the bait ball slashing with their bills to kill the fish, which are quickly gobbled up,’ Doug said. ‘Sometimes they light up or change to a bright colour pattern.

Other great stories
FIGHTING BLACKBACK GORILLAS

FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .

ABANDONED OLD CROW COTTAGE

AN OLD ENGLISH cottage packed full of history and valuables has been left to rot .

SUPER CUTE BABY RED PANDAS

These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .

ANGRY GIRAFFE DESTROYS BIKE

AN ANGRY giraffe gave a bush-riding cyclist a scare when he stomped his £2K bike into the dirt .

CHERNOBYL - 28 YEARS ON

TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .

FROZEN IN TIME LIGHTHOUSE

This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .

SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA

WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .

VENOM MAN

AN UNEMPLOYED factory worker has proved his immunity to snake venom by letting a deadly mamba bite his bare arm .

ANIMAL WHISPERER TAMES SILKY SHARK

A diving guide leaves a shark completely docile and balanced in the palm of his hand .

AMAZING THUNDERSTORM LIGHTS UP THE SARDINIAN COAST

POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .

PHOTOGRAPHER BLENDS NIGHT AND DAY IN CITYSCAPES

ALL IS not as it seems in these deceptive cityscapes .

TUNNEL FOR VICTORY

What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .