3rd Place Wide Angle
Adam Martin
“Eye of the Tornado”
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The Story: I’ve long dreamt of Cabo Pulmo’s Jack tornado, since being inspired by an image from marine ecologist, Octavio Aburto, some years ago. After a failed attempt in 2017, I returned to Cabo Pulmo in 2019 hoping to catch a glimpse. It is difficult to plan dives in Cabo Pulmo because the National Park implements a first-come, first-serve, quota system for the maximum number of divers allowed on each site per week. To my surprise, the most popular dive sites were already closed upon my arrival. On the second dive day, we lucked out and found the Jacks. Descending from the surface, I immediately saw the largest school of fish I’ve ever seen. One moment, they were a massive wall, blocking out the sun. Next, they were a “river” of fish flowing from the surface to the ocean floor. And then they transformed into a spinning tornado around my dive guide, Moctezuma, who could see the surface through the “eye” of the tornado. Since I had a fisheye lens, I was thankfully able to capture much of the scene from very close-up. I always try to set realistic expectations, and never did I imagine I would actually see them like this. It was one of my most exciting dives to date, surrounded by thousands of fish like never before.
Location: Cabo Pulmo National Park, Baja, Mexico
Equipment Used: Canon 5D Mark III Camera, Sea & Sea Housing, Canon 8-15mm Fisheye Lens, Dual Sea & Sea YS-D2J Strobes
Camera Settings: 1/125 sec, F9, ISO 200
