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  • Audubon Magazine

    2020 AUDUBON PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

    Jul 13, 2020 6 minutes
    IN ASSOCIATION WITH NATURE’S BEST PHOTOGRAPHY

    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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