A few days ago, a friend showed me a series of images he took of a shag with an eel. The eel was wrapping itself around the shag’s head and the image was just amazing. I was so envious of the opportunity he had to photograph that event. Little did I know that just a few days later I would have a similar opportunity present itself to me.
I was doing a family portrait for a friend this afternoon in Lower Hutt and went in a bit early to have a look around at the Petone Estuary. The tide was just turning and there were lots of Canada geese feeding on the weeds. I walked up the track a bit and saw the shag bobbing about in the water. I liked the way the sun was glistening in the water drops so stopped to take a few shots.
Next thing I know the shag has dipped its head into the water and bought out a huge eel. How it thought it was going to eat that was beyond me. However the shag was determined and it fought with the eel for a full ten minutes before it finally got away. I am so stoked with these images, definitely the highlight of my day photographically!
