Schooling sardines under an old pier, Phuket, Thailand
As the southwesterly monsoon winds continue to blow for another few weeks it’s been a while since I’ve been in the water. But I’ve a mountain of images still to sort from earlier in the year, so it gives me a little time. This is one from back in May, just before the seasonal reversal brought crashing waves and turbid waters. I shot this free-diving under an old pier near the southern end of Phuket. In April and May schooling sardines will congregate close to shore, seeking shelter and camouflage from larger predators in the shadow of structures such as piers and jetties. I mostly shoot these free-diving as it can be done opportunistically and with minimal equipment and organisation – and you don’t get annoying bubbles in the image. The downside is you don’t get a whole lot of time to compose shots, and you have to be very situationally aware. Many of these old piers are draped in old angling line and hooks, and the oysters that cloak the pier legs are razor sharp.
Identifying sardine species while they are live and speeding past you is pretty much impossible to do with any certainty. These are probably Sardinella species, maybe S. fimbriata, maybe S. lemuru. When photographing sardines there’s always the chance of seeing bigger stuff hunting them. Around Phuket the most common are needlefish (long Toms) and blackfin barracuda, they are generally a little more wary
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Below is a short (4 minute) video of schooling sardines in Phuket. Higher resolution (4K) clips are available to license.
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If you enjoyed this page you may also like ‘Blackfin barracuda hunting sardines‘
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