The life of a bait fish is a precarious one, as videos shared by a wildlife photographer show in vivid detail.
In the footage, filmed in Mexico, pelicans and sea lions jostle one other, each trying to take a bite from the panicked bait ball.
"Pelicans diving from above whilst sea lions hunt from below, trapping sardines in chaotic bait balls,” says safari specialist and wildlife photographer Lotte Varndell-van Rooij, who shared the footage on Instagram.
Usually based in Malawi, Varndell-van Rooij travelled to Baja California, Mexico, to witness this epic spectacle.
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In the melee, it’s hard to tell exactly how many birds are launching their enormous bills into the water while sea lions swoop in from below.
“Witnessing this feeding frenzy was unreal,” says Varndell-van Rooij, who also hosts conservation-diving trips through Crafted Diving.
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The famous rhyme about these strange-looking birds – 'a wonderful bird is the pelican. His beak can hold more than his belly can' – is absolutely true. The capacity of a pelican’s huge bill is two or three times more than that of its stomach.
After watching the pelicans and sea lions “sandwiching” the bait ball to pick off prey, Varndell-van Rooij was stunned when a massive humpback whale surged up from the depths and swallowed a huge mouthful of the fish.
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Image and video credit: Malawi-based wildlife photographer and safari specialist Lotte Varndell-van Rooij (@africalotte)
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