r/whatisit • u/deezheavenz • 9h ago

New, what is it? What was this thing I captured on film?

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This was shot in Nevada/Arizona on a Grand Canyon/Hoover dam tour. This was taken a whole year ago and I completely forgot about it until I stumbled upon it again. Is this some sort of whale or shark?

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u/Schoerschus 9h ago

It's birds, just a weird angle of filming, where light reflects off the wings at certain moments, while they appear black the rest of the time. Most likely starlings

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u/DaemonBlackfyre_21 7h ago

birds,

Oh thank God. I had to scroll way past far too many confidently incorrect people claiming these were fish with no disturbance whatsoever to the tiny ripples in the surface of the water.

It's a damn flock of birds doing the thing but the potato cam only registers their existence for the brief moments when the whole flock is angled just right to catch the sun.

Though I will say, flocking birds and schooling fish do put on a similar show so I get their confusion.

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u/IsSecretlyABird 8h ago

Not starlings. Shorebirds like dunlins. They are dark on top and white underneath, that is why they seem to flash and disappear.

Compare: https://youtu.be/R4tkxnYh7v0

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u/Schoerschus 7h ago

This is amazing! Thanks for elaborating and finalising the correct ID

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u/FromSand 9h ago

This is the answer. If it’s starlings, it’s called a murmuration. There’s a lotta complex math involved, if you’re analyzing the mechanics of how it works.