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Join our Sailfish Trip January 14 - 20 in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Limited to 5 people and 4 spaces remain.
This January I traveled to Mexico for the sardine run to photograph sailfish as they hunt in packs. Read the article on my website
Some sailfish images from my recent trip to the Gulf of Mexico
Travel Details
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Travel Planning
Guests should arrange to fly into Cancun airport (CUN)on January 14th by mid afternoon
Guests will be met by the taxi and travel the ½ - 1 hr drive to ferry
Ferry to Isla Mujeres departs on the ½ hr then hourly in the evening until 9pm
Guests should arrange to depart CUN at the end of the trip (Jan 20th) no earlier than mid morning allowing time for the ferry and taxi ride. If this is not possible guests should consider staying an extra day so as not to miss any time on the boat.
Notes
A typical day begins when we depart at 7am sharp. It only takes a few minutes to walk to the wharf. The boat will head out to blue water and use their skills to find the sardines.
Be prepared to do alot of swimming and bring mask, fins, and snorkel. Bring windproof and warm clothing for on the boat. Long fins or closed heel fins are recommended
This trip is designed for photographers and those that love marine life. We make every effort to share the best encounters during this trip, but we are dealing with nature and there are no guarantees including the weather.
Is the trip right for me?
This trip is ideal for strong swimmers who want to work for some exciting encounters and photographs of sailfish hunting sardine. Guests should be comfortable being on a 36 ft passenger boat all day and have a patient attitude, adventurous personality, have respect for the wildlife during their encounters. Aside from great pictures, we hope our guests will return with happy memories and new friends.
Each year during the winter season, nutrient rich currents flow from South America pushing its way north up onto the shallow shelf off of Isla Mujeres, Mexico drawing in large shoals of sardines and needle fish. Following these baitfish are great numbers of Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans). It is here in these shallow waters that marine life and predators collide in havoc.
Our adventure begins at the dock in early morning. We board the Keen M , a 12.5 meter custom built deep sea fishing boat both comfortable and spacious. Captain Anthony Mendillo fired up the engine and departed the dock heading out into the Mexican Caribbean.
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Locating the sailfish and sardines can take a combination of a few ingredients: lots of patience, persistence, years of experience, and one last ingredient: frigate birds. Captain Anthony, with years of fishing knowledge under his belt, knows how to locate the sailfish. Soon we spot frigate birds (Fregata Magnificens) swirling in a funnel cloud formation. Approaching their location the water surface looks like it's boiling from all the sardines breaking the surface, then we notice the backs of large bluish gray fish. Our excitement level rises; we don our fins, mask, and tightly clutch underwater cameras as we slip into the water. Once underwater we see a large bait ball of sardines moving in unison shifting in many different directions. Twenty to thirty sailfish are orbiting around this bait ball.
The sailfish cooperate as a team to hold the bait ball together. Every time the bait ball changes direction it encounters another sailfish: that sailfish will through up it's sail-like dorsal fin to scare the bait ball into diverting in another direction. The sailfish herd the bait ball near the surface and try not to let it sink down deep or disperse. When the bait ball gets close to the surface the frigate birds dive down grapping and gulping sardines, which pushes the mass down into a tighter bait ball. This team of sailfish are not all feeding at the same time: their method is to take turns individually going after the bait ball with astounding speed and precision maneuverability slashing the dense bait ball blindly with their bills knocking hapless individuals unconscious or wounding them enough to separate them from the safety of the bait ball. The isolated sardines are consumed within seconds on a second incredibly fast turn and pass by the sailfish. The next sailfish with a good position has its turn and the cycle starts again. The whole process continues unless the sardines perform enough evasive maneuvers to loose the sailfish or the predators are full and loose interest. Competing with the sailfish in this chaos of the open seas are dolphins.
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It was truly an amazing experience watching the sailfish work together as a team using precision, accuracy, and teamwork to control the bait ball, then demolish it. I have many great pictures I feel like I have experienced an exhilarating whirling cacophony of sight not many people ever see.
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I would like to give a special to Captain Anthony, his wife Kin, and their hard working crew for making this trip fun and successful. They are the best in the business.
Please contact us for more information about our next sailfish trip.
