Another great day! Captain Larry had us in the birds before we even got to the starting waypoint. I was in the water with a bait ball within 20 minutes of leaving the dock. We started with low, early morning light so I decided to go with video to begin. Here is a link to todays VIDEO. Sorry about the sound track; it's all I could get royalty-free from YouTube. Stay tuned for the high quality DVD version. One shot in particular stands out, another near miss from a sail's bill. Speaking of which, I saw a sailfish today with another sail's bill broken off at the base of its tail. This I've seen in marlin before but the first time in a sail.
Today Larry and the crew had getting into the water with the bait down to a science. The fact that the dolphins were gone was a BIG help. So much so that I was able to shoot 15 minutes of video, swim back the boat to swap cameras, get back in the water with the same bait ball, shoot 300 images to fill my 8 gig card, swim back to the boat, dry off, enjoy a snack, download and view my images, change lenses, and get back in the water just in time to see the last 5 sardines get eaten. The last one took refuge around my neck. I had 4 or 5 sails circling me, eyeing the stowaway. Finally one sail made a move and snatched the sardine from literally under my nose. As he passed, for a split second we were eye to eye, a few inches apart. WOW!
I have one day left with the chance of a big blow tomorrow from the southeast. As it stands, this trip has produced images way above those I wanted. I'm stoked with what I have in the "can". From the around 1500 images I have shot I will choose probably three for prep and printing into limited edition fine art prints which will be added to the fine art collection on my website. I will also produce a range of sailfish posters and note cards which will be available from the online store in the coming weeks. The video side of things is new to Occhio, but with some post-production editing I am going to try and produce a 15 minute DVD of a sailfish bait ball. Keep coming back to the website for updates.
Thanks to the almost 700 people who have read my blog over the last few days and for all your Facebook messages and emails. It has really been great to share this trip with you. I've had several requests for more information on the island of Isla Mujeres itself. Once I'm done with tomorrow's trip I will take a drive through town and try to get some local interest shots. Today I've added a shot of the El Milagro Marina where we've been based. Click here to follow a link to their website.
good stuff, again !!
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