Pictures from Whalebone Bay
  


Abstract
Our first day in Bermuda produced a reef silverside fish in my mouth while treading water in Whalebone Bay. I hadn't recognized the huge, dark mass in the water was actually millions of bait fish until they engulfed me in the water, panicked, and jumped to avoid predation. One unfortunate soul jumped into my mouth. Shortly after that event, we noticed some tarpon praying on the fish. I began to wonder if the tarpon were driving the bait fish into Whalebone Bay in order to feed on them. Given the size and depth of the bay, there was little place for the bait fish to go, which would mean a plentiful buffet for predators.

Subsequent trips to Whalebone revealed that the tarpon were not the cause of the massive school. So, it made me wonder why these fish swarmed to Whalebone with such vigor. Below are some pictures from Whalebone Bay. The dark areas in the water are the schooling fish.

 

 

 

 

Overall Aim of Research:

The aim of this research was to determine why there was a large population of bait fish residing in Whalebone Bay. Large numbers of fish coming together is a behavior known as schooling. There are several reasons why fish may school, such as mating, protection, feeding, or being forced into a school by predators. Whalebone Bay is a small, shallow bay so the abundance of the fish is striking when viewed out of the water.

The results of my observations and off-site research lead to the conclusion that the school of fish were most likely there due to a mating breathier. The timing of our trip was during a full moon, linked to spawning (9), and at the tail end of spawning season (4,5,9,10).
 

 

 

         

  • Intro
  • Abstract
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Conclusion

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Juvenile herring hunt in shoals for very alert and evasive copepods. The copepods can sense with their antennae the pressure-wave of the approaching herring and react with a fast escape jump. The length of the jump is quite consistent. The fish arrange themselves in a grid of this characteristic jump length. The copepods can dart about 80 times before they tire out. It takes 60 milliseconds to spread out the antennae again, and this time slot is used by the herring to finally snap a copepod. A lone juvenile herring would never be able to catch a large copepod ("Synchropredation" — results from in situ videos taken from the ATOLL laboratory). 

    Source