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Audubon Magazine

2020 AUDUBON PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

CATEGORY

Professional

PHOTOGRAPHER

Joanna Lentini

SPECIES

Double-crested Cormorant

LOCATION

Los Islotes, Mexico

CAMERA

Canon EOS 7D Mark II with Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 AT-X 107 DX AF Fisheye lens; 1/640 second at f/6.3; ISO 320

BEHIND THE SHOT

I’ve spent many hours underwater at this California sea lion rookery in the Bay of La Paz, but I had never before encountered diving cormorants there. Shifting my focus from the playful sea lions, I watched in awe as the cormorants plunged beak-first into the sea to snap at the sardines swimming by. Although I spent a long time admiring these birds, I didn’t see a single one catch a fish. Adding insult to injury, curious sea lion pups would zip by the hunting birds and nip at them from behind.

BIRD LORE

Cormorants are superb divers, well adapted to rapid pursuit of fish underwater. Their bodies are heavy but streamlined, with dense plumage. When they dive, they hold their wings tightly to their sides,

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