Honorable Mention Wide Angle
Fabien Michenet
“Mahi-Mahi Bloom“
The Story:
Every year, in the South of Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific coast of Mexico, a sardine run occurs between October and November and millions of Pacific sardines (Sardines sagax) gather over sea mounts. Whales, striped marlin, mahi-mahi, Pacific sea lions and other predators are attracted by the feast.
This year the mahi-mahi was particularly abundant and sometimes limited access to resources to other predators. Striped marlins remained under the bait balls and preferred to hunt isolated sardines. This abundance could be due to the El Niño phenomenon but has already been observed in the past.
Although mahi-mahi is a common species in offshore tropical waters, sightings by photographers are rare. However, that day and faced with such abundance, my concern was rather to photograph them in an orderly movement.
By swimming quickly and pointing my camera backwards, I was able to photograph the mahi-mahi coming towards me, as well as the variety of changing colors of the fish intrigued by the agitation of the water.
Location:
South of Madalena Bay, Mexico
Equipment Used:
- Camera: Nikon Z8
- Housing: Nauticam Nikon Z8 Housing
- Lens: Nikon 8-15 mm Fisheye Lens
- Lights/Strobes:
Camera Settings:
- Aperture: F6.3
- Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
- ISO: 320
