Marlin

Todd Aki · Issue 114, May/Jun 2020 · pp. 34–37

Products mentioned: Canon 7D Mark II, Nauticam housing, Tokina 10-17

Static : motionless, quiet, calm. The word itself is almost a remedy for a quick pulse - unless you’re in Magdalena Bay on the western coast of the Baja Peninsula and the word is shouted by the captain who is scanning the clear blue waters for static, unmoving bait balls and the marlin that come to feed on them. Bait balls in this area are schools of migratory sardines that form tight groups, constantly swimming in unison, hoping that their collective size will be enough to confuse predators and that individuals in the center won’t be eaten. Bait balls attract predators and predators attract photographers. We are here to snorkel with and photograph the marlin feeding, but finding a static bait ball is the trick. Many bait balls are naturally on the run. Your boat may stop and you might jump in just in time to see the feeder fish and marlin streak by at warp speed before a single shot is …