Striped marlin come together to feast on speedy schools of baitfish in the Pacific
SEARCHING FOR LIFE IN THE PELAGIC ocean is like finding a needle in a haystack and capturing an epic scene, such as the one pictured, can take many long days at sea without reward. A frantic gathering of seabirds near the water’s surface, though, is a tantalising sign that a ‘baitball’ lies beneath, with frigatebirds and boobies picking at the fish in this corner of the eastern Pacific.
Cool upwellings deliver nutrients, drawing in teeming schools of mackerel and herring – and, with them, opportunistic predators. The swirling, sparkling masses employ a safety-in-numbers defensive strategy, but cunning striped marlin co-operatively herd them into tightly packed baitballs, using their 4m-long torpedo bodies and sword-like bills to strike the prey with deadly precision, before eating them whole.
At times, the marlin are joined by sealions, tuna, sharks and even whales – creating a spectacular feeding frenzy rarely glimpsed by human eyes.
MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
“The challenge is keeping up”
“Miraculously, we were able to safely swim alongside the marlin as they hunted within close quarters,” says Devon-based underwater photographer Henley Spiers. “The greatest challenge is keeping up with the action. Often the bait is ‘running’, pursued at pace by the striped marlin. This image was captured in the brief seconds after dropping into the water.”