Cecile Gabillon's Image

A spectacular superpod of spinner dolphins herds lanternfish towards the surface of the ocean.

Cecile was free-diving in the Pacific Ocean, near Costa Rica, when she came across the dolphins.

They were herding lanternfish and guiding them towards the surface.

Cecile was swimming so hard to keep up with them that it was almost impossible to take pictures. And her fisheye lens wasn’t wide enough to take in the full scene.

She says that being surrounded by these dolphins was one of the most amazing encounters of her life. As they welcomed her into their realm, she nearly forgot to come up for air.

Sadly, pollution and overfishing are making these massive groups rarer.