I'm fascinated by a series of photographs sent to me by Bob R., a correspondent from Australia. They depict a school of fish off a beach near Wollongong, New South Wales, and a group of sharks feeding off them. Click the pictures for a larger view.
In the first, a surfer floats right over the densely-packed school of fish, oblivious to (or perhaps ignoring) the danger from the sharks that are gathering to feed.
The sharks move in as the shoal rises closer to the surface and creeps nearer to the beach, trying to get away.
The sharks enter the shoal, snapping up any fish within reach. The fish, of course, clear a space around each shark as they try to avoid their jaws.
More and more sharks move into the shoal, which is beginning to disperse in all directions, trying to avoid being eaten.
Amazing photographs - and I marvel that the surfer was lucky enough to get out of the way before the feeding frenzy began!
Peter
2 comments:
Incredible photography. I think I will look around for the latter two images in higher resolution; they would make outstanding (desktop) wallpaper.
Jim
If you get a chance, watch some video of this phenomenon. It's amazing how not only do they keep the fish balled up until there are too many predators competing (this happens quite a bit out in the deeper waters as well, where there are several different species of predator going about things), but perhaps more interestingly is the order and civility in the behavior. Things very rarely get as out of control as the classic mental image of "feeding frenzy" suggests. These fish have a pecking order, and are surprisingly "polite" for lack of a better term.
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