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Fishing in New Caledonia is pretty exciting. Here a Giant Trevally, Carynx ignobilis, prepares to breakfast in a swarming school of sardines just off the fringing reef at Ilot Ua in New Caledonia's southern lagoon. There were several of these big fish - each about 60 or 70 cm long - patrolling the reef but they tended to hunt by themselves. I saw them from time to time, usually in deeper water, as I swam along the reef admiring the stunning display of corals and the whirling shoals of sardines.
Sardines know all about the fishing habits of the Giant Trevally. When the predator was really about to attack the sardines balled up, then created a "hole" around the Trevally. From the Trevally's viewpoint, it was inside a sphere of mirror images of it's prey and this seemed to confuse the menu.
I think this Trevally came very close to me because the sardines had made a "hole" for me. Since I am not really a sardine predator (except for the canned variety) and because I had been fussing about, minding my own business, setting up and taking a sphere image in the same spot for about 10 minutes, the sardines were milling about without any particular formation.
Perhaps the Trevally thought that this offered a special opportunity. The big fish gave me quite a start. It came from behind me, very close to my head, and surprised the swarm of sardines.
Just after I took this photo, the GT ate on the run vanished into the blue.
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Une Nation du Pacifique Sud, la plus proche de l'Australie et de la Nouvelle Zélande. Une chaîne de hautes montagnes, d'impressionnantes cascades et de nombreuses rivières avec une flore et une faune variée et souvent unique au monde - C'est le paradis de la randonnée pédestre ou équestre ainsi que de l'excursion en véhicule tout-terrain.Le plus grand lagon du monde, peuplé d'une faune tropicale endémique particulièrement riche, avec des récifs et des populations de poissons rares et protégées. Des centaines d'épaves sous-marines, des îlots, de nombreuses plages de sable blanc. La population calédonienne est issue d'un large brassage culturel : Mélanésiens, Européens, Polynésiens, Vietnamiens, Chinois, Japonais, et la langue et culture française. La Nouvelle-Calédonie est dotée de très bonnes infrastructures médicales et sociales. Une infrastructure touristique qui offre un large éventail de types d'hébergement allant de l'hôtel 5 étoiles au camping aménagé en passant par l'accueil en milieu tribal, les chambres d'hôtes, les refuges et l'auberge de jeunesse.
