Nature’s Pic Images Blog

An unseasonably calm winter’s day took me well offshore exploring by boat into Cook Strait where I witnessed and recorded a wildlife feeding frenzy not often seen, and it was included in a NZ Geographic article here: https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/frosty-reception/.  In the water, New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) were diving to catch Frostfish (Lepidopus caudatus), a very long almost snake like fish, but their length required the seal to bring the fish to the surface in order the thrash and rip them apart, taking several minutes per fish.

The splashing and commotion caused a large collection of Mollymawks (small albatrosses) to arrive and battle over any morsels flung from the grisly massacre taking place.

Travelling around by boat I discovered this feeding activity associated with every shallower undersea mount in an otherwise 300m deep sea

It was a unique experience to visit the area, often far too inhospitable to visit in small vessels, and to hang out with wildlife not often seen close to shore like these beautiful Mollymawks

To see more frostfish massacre images go here, and Mollymawk images here.

Tagged: albatross, feeding frenzy, Frostfish, NZ fur seals, Out in the field, photo expedition, Rob Suisted's work, wildlife photography