Krill in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds

 

It seems that I wasn't the only one who was amazed by the totally unexpected sight of swarms of brightly coloured krill at the innermost ends of New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds, an area of flooded valleys which stretch for 10 or 15 kilometers inland from the open sea.

  

In case your childhood biology classes are a distant memory, krill are the small crustaceans which make up the bulk of the diet of several species of whales, as well as various maritime birds who flock to the coastlines of the South Island to take part in the feast.

 

It doesn't sound too exciting, but then who could have imagined that krill could form such strange swirling patterns, like some sort of strange impressionistic painting?

  

But I didn't want to just take photos from above water, I wanted to jump in and get some photos of them underwater, too. After a few minutes of swimming aimlessly through the gloomy green depths, something emerged out of the haze...

 
  

 
 

...bunched up, unsure what to do...

 

...they decide that it's time to say "goodbye"...