年時代十佳新聞照片(5) 南非海豹島海豹躲避大白鯊
5. David Jenkins. Seal Island, South Africa. July 26, 2013.
2013年7月26日，南非海豹島，攝影：戴維·詹金斯I have been traveling to Seal Island off the coast of South Africa for 5 or 6 years now to photograph the interaction between the great white sharks and their prey, the cape fur seal. On the morning of July 26, 2013, I made my way out to Seal Island with a local shark tour operator. The sea was not too rough and there was some cloud cover -- good conditions to see the sharks hunting.
我在南非海豹島（Seal Island）已待了五、六年時間拍攝大白鯊和其獵物海豹之間的戰鬥。2013年7月26日早晨，我和一位當地鯊魚觀賞導遊前往海豹島。那是個陰天，海面並無大浪，這種天氣非常適合觀賞鯊魚捕食。Usually, the most active hunting time is an hour before sunrise and an hour after. I arrived at the island at about 7:15 and immediately we could see that there had been some kills -- from the gulls in the area hovering and the slicks on the water. When the attacks happen they are at lightening speed and can be over in a second. We decided to track alongside some seals which were coming back to the island after feeding out at sea, keeping a distance so as not to interfere. I noticed a smaller seal had dropped off the back of the main group. The sharks often choose the single seals to attack as their chance of success is higher.
最激烈的捕獵時間一般在日出前後1小時左右。我7點15分到達海豹島，立刻就發現已經有捕殺發生，因爲海面上漂浮着動物殘骸，海鷗在上空盤旋覓食。捕獵發生如閃電般迅速，一剎那就會結束。我們決定，跟着一些在海里覓完食返回島嶼的海豹，保持一段距離，以免干擾。我發現一隻小海豹落在大部隊後面。鯊魚往往會選擇這種落單的海豹發動襲擊，這樣成功率較高。
I tracked with the seal in my viewfinder and, without warning, a great white attacked. The shark had its mouth wide open and the seal managed to just avoid the bite. It was sent flying out of the water by the nose of the shark. As the seal was falling back towards the water it narrowly missed the mouth of the shark. For the next couple of minutes the seal stayed close to the shark's body but away from the mouth, using its agility to tire out the shark. When the shark gave up, the seal managed to make its way back to the island safely.
我隨着探視鏡觀察這隻海豹，這時毫無預警，一隻大白鯊發動了攻擊。它張開血盆大口，但海豹僥倖逃過一劫。鯊魚窮追不捨，海豹被逼出水面。它回到水面時，又一次逃過鯊魚的大嘴。接下來幾分鐘裏，海豹在鯊魚攻擊範圍之外兜圈子，依靠靈活的身體拖累鯊魚。最終鯊魚放棄了攻擊，海豹才成功返回小島。
