Nature’s Water Filtration System

This alligator feeding in the salt marsh will grab everything in front of him in a huge gulp, then strain out the water leaving behind only some tasty fish and shrimp snacks.

16 thoughts on “Nature’s Water Filtration System”

Steve Gingold on May 13, 2014 at 5:17 pm said:

My those are mighty large baleen you have. I thought only whales did that. Something new every day. 🙂

Very nice capture of this behavior, Phil.

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- Phil Lanoue on May 13, 2014 at 5:24 pm said:
  
  This guy was fishing baleen style. I’m not sure if they are supposed to do that, but I’m not about to tell him he’s doing it all wrong.
  Thanks for checking these out Steve.
  
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Pat on May 13, 2014 at 5:19 pm said:

Wow!

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- Phil Lanoue on May 13, 2014 at 5:24 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much for looking!
  
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Dina on May 13, 2014 at 6:03 pm said:

Great shoots, Phil. How far away were you, I wonder?

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- Phil Lanoue on May 13, 2014 at 6:29 pm said:
  
  Thanks! Oh, maybe 20 feet. Close. But they generally just ignore me and go about their business.
  
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patwarren on May 13, 2014 at 6:06 pm said:

Nice shot Phil, That’s more action than I saw yesterday. Got one good shot of Radar before a tourist scared him off.

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- Phil Lanoue on May 13, 2014 at 6:29 pm said:
  
  Thanks for checking these out and you gotta love Radar!
  
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Garden Walk Garden Talk on May 13, 2014 at 8:27 pm said:

I never knew that either. I associate it with whales, great stuff to learn!

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Gunta on May 13, 2014 at 10:47 pm said:

Seems like a very efficient way to go about it.

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Lyle Krahn on May 14, 2014 at 1:30 am said:

Love the action. All that muck really has to mess with the flavour of the seafood!

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foxleylady on May 14, 2014 at 10:40 am said:

Incredible how animals adapt their feeding to the conditions in which they live!

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anotherday2paradise on May 14, 2014 at 11:02 am said:

Hahaha. Oh Mr A, what a big mouth you have! All the better to filter the water with. 😀

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Cowboys and Crossbones on May 14, 2014 at 3:43 pm said:

He’s much more interesting than my Brita. Think he’d keep my water fresh and clean?

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bits and pieces on photo on May 14, 2014 at 6:58 pm said:

That is in a way a scary photo!

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Linda V. on May 15, 2014 at 1:09 pm said:

What a photo!!! Boyyou have alot of alligators where u live…how close do you get to them? I know I’ve asked you a few times about zooming in, I do photography and have wild life here, (not like you though) but cant get that close to them, without them running away…and, wondered if you have a special zoom in, because I for one, only say one alligator once when I lived in Fla, and he was far away, and I was too scared to get any closer….heard there are also crockadiles in the ocean, now thats scary…Beautiful photos though, they are very big…

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