UPY 2024

UPY  Behaviour - Winner
'The End Of The Baitball'
Rafael Fernandez Caballero

I was fortunate enough to experience this unique spectacle in the open Pacific waters in Magdalena Bay at the end of 2023. Due to the warmer water this year caused by the climate phenomenon “El Niño”, more species than ever joined this hunt. Bait balls of sardines attracted a variety of predators, but the main stars of the show, visiting Baja in perhaps larger numbers than ever, were the Bryde's whales. They patrolled the waters, searching for bait balls to get their bellies full of hundreds of kilograms of fish. This photo shows the very moment of attack, with the whale’s ventral pleats wide open and filtering the prey from the water using their baleens after engulfing hundreds of kilograms of sardines in one bite — simply unforgettable.

Judge's comment: Absolutely jaw dropping (pun intended). Perfectly posed and composed at the peak of the action with sunshine highlights. This image leapt out and we never tired of admiring it. Big subject, big image, big winner.
Peter Rowlands