The beauty of the Waitomo Caves captured on camera by UK photographer Tom Archer

Photo credit: Caters

A travelling UK photographer visiting New Zealand was blown away by the beauty of one particular sightseeing destination and has shared his images with his impressive social media following.

London-based photographer Tom Archer was visiting the Waitomo Caves when he snapped the location's famous bioluminescent glow-worms.

Photo credit: Caters

Thousands of glow-worms had turned a cave luminous blue in a fascinating attempt to attract prey.

The blue light they produce is used to attract other insects at night - something Tom struggled to photograph due to it being pitch black.

He said he was blown away by how "surreal and magical" the caves are.

Photo credit: Caters

"As I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark, the glow-worms appeared like the milky way above my head," said Tom.

"I felt like I was on an alien planet and felt completely awestruck by the experience."

Glowworms hang sticky threads, which they use to catch the insects and then eat them, much in the same way a spider does in its web.

Tom currently has 107,000 followers on his Instagram account.

 

Caters

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