Start of the fish fight
Cormorant wins the fish fight
Pelicans attack the cormorant
Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image was taken in Baja California on a Cruise focussing on The Great Whale Migration that happens every year in and around Baja California. This is where Grey whales, Humpback Whales, Blue Whales, and others come to give birth every year in the safe and warm waters in Baja.
For this particular image, a Blue Footed Booby dove into the water and came up with a fish. A cormorant saw this and immediately went in a tug of war with the BFB coming away with the fish. Yeah, not so fast. While the tug of war was going on 4 pelicans came crashing in on the fish party and one of the pelicans grabbed one end of the fish while the cormorant tugged on the other end. This was a sequence of over 40 images from start to finish with the Pelican coming away with the fish. The image I’m sharing is the third to last in the sequence.
If you are interested in seeing a few more images in the sequence, let me know and I’ll share a few that make sense.
This area is super rich in bird life and sea life and the experience is something I’ll never forget. This was only one of 5 different fights over fish on the trip.
Specific Feedback
Any and all feedback is great.
Technical Details
Z9, 180-600mm at 540mm, f/8, ISO 1000, 1/6400 hand held from a boat.
I’d certainly be interested in seeing more of the images from this sequence, David, particularly one that shows the booby a bit more as it’s pretty hidden in this (I think I’m seeing the poor bird’s bill, but it looks pretty buried under the cormorant. It’s a really great image. You did a great job of handling the bright tropical light.
Thanks Dennis. I just posted a larger image as the original was so small it was hard to see any detail. The BFB actually isn’t in this scene. He originally had the fish, got robbed by the cormorant and the cormorant got robbed by the pelican. I’ll add a few images for reference.
Now here’s a sequence that really tells a story, David. The detail in the birds is excellent and that first image showing the close-up tug of war between the birds is special.
Holy Cow! Doesn’t get much better! What a great spectacle you’ve witnessed. I’ve often seen pelicans steal fish but nothing quite like this.
All the images are wonderful and tell the story. I’d love to see more.
Great work hand holding from a boat!
WOW!!! What a experience. The opening view, really emphasizes the eyes of all three and the splashing water. The 3rd from the end shows that it was a crowd makes it look like the Cormorant was a bit overmatched.
Hi David
It is rare that we get to see nature put on a show like this. Very cool. Thank you for the images.
Peter
Wow, David, I didn’t realize fish were such a premium in Baja. 
Fantastic work with the handheld images tremendous action, chaos captured and wonderful colors.
Yes! @Stephen_Stanton . You have hit the nail on the head. The action is wonderful, but look at the colour. Not overdone, but glorious.
Thanks very much for taking a look and commenting @Glenys_Passier, @Stephen_Stanton, @Peter_Morrissey, @Mark_Seaver, @Glenys_Passier, @Allen_Brooks, @Dennis_Plank. I very much appreciate your comments. This truly was a great experience for us.
@Stephen_Stanton : I don’t think that fish are at a premium at all. There is bait fish everywhere you look. I think it’s more about the abundance of birds in any given area that makes it difficult for diving birds to come up after a dive and not be surrounded ny half a dozen other birds particularly when there is a bait ball and a bunch of birds converge on it. I’ve never seen such an abundance of fish in my life. It was pretty crazy.
