I have always loved taking black and white photos, I feel taking away all the distracting colours showcases the rawness and more of the emotional state of the subject. With that said, zebras always make the best subjects for monochrome photos, all those hues of grey make these striped creatures stand out even more!

But there is more to the contrasting stripes of zebra than meets the eye. The black and white stripes help break the outline of the zebra and as a herd, it makes it difficult for potential predators to spot them as the stripes of each animal blend almost uniformly to the next creating a “dazzle effect” and making it a mission to single out one individual. This type of camouflage is known as disruptive coloration.

A number of animal species use disruptive coloration as a form of avoiding predation but we as humans have also made use of the same form of camouflage. A good example would be the first and second World War; dubbed the Razzle Dazzle, a military camouflage much similar to the zebra’s stripes was used extensively on ships. After several failed attempts to disguise their ships, a British marine artist in the Allied Navies had an ingenious idea to paint the ships with black and white stripes. In doing so, the aim was not to conceal them but rather it make it difficult for spotter planes to estimate the type and size of the ships and even more difficult for the German “U” boats to calculate the trajectory for their torpedoes as it was difficult to estimate speed and direction of travel.

As each zebra has unique stripes, so did the ships. Each ship had a its own pattern unique to it so as to tell the individual ship’s class. The same concept of painting on contrasting stripes would later be used on fighter planes.

In modern day life we can still witness disruptive coloration being used, especially in the car manufacturing industry. Ever wondered why car manufacturers wrap their prototypes or test models before they reveal them to the public? Just like the zebra, it disguises the shape of the vehicle from the anticipating public and most importantly, from competitors.

This form of emulating systems and models from nature is known as Biomimicry. The term “biomimicry” is derived from ancient Greek – “bio” meaning life and “mimicry”, meaning to imitate. We have always looked to nature for answers from the early ages, from the myths of Icarus to the Wright brothers, nature has always provided answers. Anyone who has been on drive with me can surely attest to my passion for biomimicry. In my next blog we will look at how birds and the world’s tallest animal have influenced modern day travel. But for now, I hope you’ve been dazzled by this blog!