沙丁鱼大逃亡 The great sardine run

Encompassing diving gannets, sharks, dolphins and Brydes Whales, this is the increasingly rare and unpredictable sardine run. Likened to east Africa's buffalo migration, the run sees sardines spawn and migrate from the cool waters of the Agulhas Bank, south of South Africa, northward to the warmer waters along the east coast. Shoals are known to be four miles long and one mile wide, and are clearly visible from the surface of the ocean.

今年7月，水下摄影师贾森海就前往南非野生海岸捕捉独特的掠夺大汇演
Underwater photographer Jason Heller travelled to the wild coast of South Africa this July to capture the unique predatory extravaganza

一千只海豚协同工作，把沙丁鱼驱赶到水面上来。
Working together, up to 1,000 common dolphins arrive from the open ocean to drive the shoal of sardines towards the surface

上千只海豚吐出气泡把成群的沙丁鱼聚集在一个更紧密的空间里。
As the frenzy continues walls of bubbles drift upwards which are released by the dolphins working together in teams. They use the bubbles to coax the sardines into ever tighter groups

很少有沙丁鱼会穿过气泡，它们只会越聚越紧。这张被称作气泡网的网子能让海豚抓住每一次沙丁鱼
The sardines seldom cross the wall of bubbles and crowd closer together. Known as bubble netting, this enables the dolphins to grab every last sardine

这个沙丁鱼构成的食物球可以达到65英尺长，或者是直径20米。
Protecting themselves from this onslaught the sardines form into giant balls called 'bait balls' which can measure as large as 65 feet, or 20 metres, in diameter

Thanks to the dolphins the sardines come within the diving range of the gannets who swoop into the water like white arrows shooting into the sea leaving hundreds of white bubbles behind them

Next to join the frenzy are the sharks who get very excited when the dolphins are around

"While the dolphins clearly pack hunt and communicate with each other, the sharks have a clear pecking order that is understood among the seven species that hunt the sardines - size matters," says Jason

"...The bigger sharks come in first, and the rest follow"

Just when the feasting appears to be almost over, Brydes Whales appear...

...and swallow thousands of sardines in one enormous gulp

Jason uses micro light planes to try and spot and relay the co-ordinates of the masses of fish and dive-bombing gannets

"We look for Cape Gannets dive bombing a concentrated area from the sky. Once in the water, the energy is amazing. You can feel the reverberation of the birds hitting the water, like small explosions constantly around you"

"What seems like a frenzy is actually more like organised chaos," says Jason. "The sharks, dolphins, birds and whales interact with the bait ball independently of one another," says Jason

"The sardine run has by far been the most unique experience I have had so far," says Jason. "To swim among more predators on one dive than most scuba divers will witness in their entire lifetime is something that I am truly grateful for"