Giant feast - Felipe Barrio - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2007

2007: Underwater Worlds - Winner

Felipe Barrio Enlarge image Giant feast

Felipe Barrio (Spain)

Giant feast

'I was woken by a huge crash against the boat in the Red Sea. It was a 10-metre-long young whale shark. Four other sharks then joined it, gathered below a school of sardines. We slipped into the water using snorkelling gear, and watched them feed, non-stop for three hours. They not only sucked up the plankton, but also the sardines' excrement. It was a fantastic experience.' Whale sharks are the largest fish on Earth. The Gulf of Tadjourah off Djibouti, in the Red Sea, is a hotspot for these giants, which congregate from October to January to feed. Despite their huge size, they are filter feeders, sucking in water and filtering out the plankton, algae, krill and small squid or fish.

Nikon D200 + Nikon 10.5mm lens; 1/50 sec at f4; ISO 160; Seacam housing.

This photograph is available to buy as a print.