An unbelievable large school of sardines, moving as one unit, opens while each individual tries to escape at the maw of grouper and dentex. The tiny sardines found themselves in a situation which limited their chances of survival, since they were locked up between the surface and the shallow bottom, with very few possibilities to escape the predators’ mouths. The large school was so big to darken the natural light coming through the surface in the shallow water and frantically moved apart under the attacks of the groupers and dentex, to reassemble shortly after. The school of fishes continually changed shapes, similarly to the flocks of starlings in the sky. I remained hours in the shallow water, doing my best to take a representative picture, while avoiding to be part of the feast. Species : Sardines, Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea), Dentex Conservation status : Least concerned Location: Los Islotes rockeries, Espiritu Santo archipelago, Sea of Cortez, Mexico The area was declared part of a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1995

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Image size: 6720x4480 pixels (22.4"x14.9" @300dpi)

Shooting date : 2019-11-03

Les minuscules sardines se sont retrouvées dans une situation qui limitait leurs chances de survie, puisqu'elles étaient enfermées entre la surface et le fond peu profond, avec très peu de possibilités d'échapper à la gueule des prédateurs. Le grand banc était si grand qu'il obscurcissait la lumière naturelle passant par la surface dans les eaux peu profondes et se séparait frénétiquement sous les attaques des mérous et des dentex, pour se reconstituer peu après. Le banc de poissons changeait continuellement de forme, un peu comme les volées d'étourneaux dans le ciel. Je suis resté des heures dans l'eau peu profonde, faisant de mon mieux pour prendre une photo représentative, tout en évitant de faire partie du festin.

Keywords

Species / Species particularity / Fishes particularity / Saltwater fish

Species / IUCN Red List of Threatened Species / Threatened endangered species / Vulnerable (IUCN) VU

World sea and ocean / Pacific Ocean / North Pacific Ocean / Sea of Cortez / Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California / Espíritu Santo island

Enumeration / Nobody

Behavior / Defense (attitude) / Bait ball

Winning picture

Animal / Wild animal / Chordate / Vertebrate / Fish (animal) / Bony fish / Actinopterygian / Pilchard

November

Environment / Biodiversity management / Environment management / Environment protection / UNESCO's World Heritage

Run away

Area / Marine area / Sea bottom

Best of

Environment / Biodiversity management / Environment management / Environment protection / Biosphere reserve

Enumeration / Group / School fish

Area / Marine area / Sea / Temperate sea

Shot / Overview

Shot / Low angle shot

Motion / Locomotion / Swim

Enumeration / Group / Multitude

Species / Relation between species / Predation / Prey

Species / Relation between species / Predation / Predator

America / North America / Mexico (Country)

Animal / Wild animal / Chordate / Vertebrate / Fish (animal) / Bony fish / Actinopterygian / Grouper / Leopard grouper (Mycteroperca rosacea)

Latin keywords

Eukaryota / Opisthokonta / Metazoa / Bilateria / Coelomata / Deuterostomia / Chordata / Vertebrata / Gnathostomata / Euteleostomi / Actinopterygii / Teleostei / Perciformes / Sparidae / Dentex

Eukaryota / Opisthokonta / Metazoa / Bilateria / Coelomata / Deuterostomia / Chordata / Vertebrata / Gnathostomata / Euteleostomi / Actinopterygii / Teleostei / Perciformes / Serranidae / Mycteroperca

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