“This one left me speechless,” says photographer Mark Smith about an absolutely incredible slow-motion video he captured of a bald eagle on the hunt. Smith posted the video on Instagram yesterday, and it already has over 1 million likes.
In the slow-motion video, you can see a bald eagle zeroing in on its prey, a fish in the water below. As the eagle approaches the surface of the water, the eagle’s eyes are on its mark, and its massive talons open in preparation for the grab.
The eagle splashes into the water, dunking itself farther than you’d think. Then, it turns its eyes upward (and even seems to make eye contact with the photographer for a moment) before lifting itself back up and out of the water.
After the eagle emerges from the water, you can see that it has caught a fish. It then transfers its meal from talon to beak and expertly eats the fish mid-air, tossing it around a bit to position it.
Watch a bald eagle catch a fish in this stunning footage:
Smith says in the caption that the footage leaves him speechless. His video appears to be going viral, with 1.1 million likes and counting.