Strange behavior?

Gallery: WildlifePosted January 19, 2011144 views8 comments

While at the shore looking to take some images of birds I wittnessed some -what I think - unusual behavior of these Dolphins. They kept beaching themselves and splashing obout with their tails.As you can see there are a few fish airborne because of this splashing. I thought that they might be stirring up the fish for others but that did not seem to be the case. Anyone familiar with this activity please chime in.
I do not claim this as a good image but since this is a critique forum please feel free to comment or suggest.

Dan

D40x
1/1000
6.3 +.33
Sigma 150-500 @500
ISO 500
CW
HH

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Joe James on January 19, 2011 at 8:42 PM

Hi Dan,

First off you did well here capturing a scene that is quite common but difficult to capture b/c it's so unpredictable. The airborne fish are mullet and the dolphins are herding them up onto a sandbar to make them easier to catch. There's probably several dozen mullet in the school so you're only seeing the handful that have gone airborne at the moment you took the photo. I've seen this many back at home in Indialantic, Florida but never while I had a camera in hand so congratulations on your good timing.

Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 20, 2011 at 1:25 AM

I have witnessed similar behavior with Killer Whales. They move in a pod along inlets and corral salmon against areas where the shore is steep and smooth, forcing them to surface on the rocks where they can be scooped up. Interesting group sea mammal behavior image. Cropping a bit more from the bottom would make the photo even stronger I feel.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on January 20, 2011 at 10:29 AM

Great action capture, documenting interesting behavior. I really like the single fish silhouetted against the spray of water! For most artistic presentation, I would consider a crop of about half the foreground water (eliminating the zone of out of focus waves.) That would then move the action lower in the frame and feel closer to the viewer. But the big effect would be to emphasize the pleasing horizontal layering of water, dolphins/fish, water, sandbar, water in a nice pano format.

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Harbour on January 20, 2011 at 11:33 AM

Great capture of the action and behavior. I like that you captured several fish in the air.

Registered on January 4, 2008, 113 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 20, 2011 at 1:20 PM

Wonderful behavior type shot and good timing to get the fish in the air to really add to the story. I do like Lon's suggestion on the crop. Great job in getting this, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Oscar Benavides on January 20, 2011 at 5:35 PM

Interesting behaviour captured. I like too the single fish flying in the middle of the photo. I agree Lon about the crop suggestion.

Registered on January 2, 2011, 12 Posts, 141 Comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on January 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM

Definitely dolphins fishing! A very difficult behaviour to photograph, but you did well here with that airborne fish being a great aspect. I agree on the crop suggestion too.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Canuel on January 21, 2011 at 12:06 AM

Nice horizontal lines in this image. Must have been fun to watch and you're lucky to have had your camera. Seen this behavior on one of the animal shows. Killer whales do similar things but they use seals

Registered on September 12, 2010, 53 Posts, 660 Comments