A wildlife photographer his favorite unplanned shoot of 2023, and it’s an adorable video of newts taken from his phone.
A newt is a kind of salamander that spends most of its time in the water. Photographer Quin Schrock got an up-close video of these tiny creatures by dipping his iPhone in the water.
Check out the video:
Schrock is based in Southern California. The majority of his photos and videos come from California national parks and other areas around the Golden State. He has captured some amazing images, but he says this simple, unplanned video is some of his favorite content from the year.
To get the video and images, Schrock says he stood on a dock and dipped his phone in the water. The Apple device was enough to draw the attention of the newts.
Despite looking like lizards, newts are amphibians, like frogs. The creatures start their lives in the water as larvae or “newt tadpoles.” From there, they grow legs and can live between the water and land.
The California newt is considered a special concern species, meaning the animal is at risk in the wild. The issues with newts revolve mostly around the introduction of non-native species into streams that have claimed their habitat.