David Keep Photography

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Homage to Nature

One (small) advantage of lockdown is that it’s giving me time to do more processing and I’m currently working through the images I took on a trip to Mexico last November. The primary target was to photograph the sea lion colony which lives on the small outcrop of rock known as Los Islotes, an hours boat ride from Baja California Sur's capital of La Paz. Sea lions are very friendly, interactive animals - it was a great experience & I’ll write more about it over the next few weeks.

We also made a three day excursion to the Cabo Pulmo Marine Reserve which was reached by a 4 hour drive over mostly uncomfortable roads - but it was worth it. Our sole aim for the trip was to experience the huge shoals of Horse-eye jacks (Big-eye Trevally) that live there. They’re a relatively large fish, average around 50cm & 8kg, and the shoals are simply enourmous - many 1,000s of fish. Just like a flock of starlings they move in coordination, forming streaming sinuous shapes - it’s very beautiful to watch. It was one of the most amazing natural spectacles I’ve witnessed underwater & this image is my favourite from the 100s I took. The diver is another member of our party and her pose was not set up - it really was one of those situations were you just had to stop & marvel at the wonders of nature.

Take a look at the short video below & you’ll get some idea of how big the shoals are.

Homage to Nature