American photographer Octavio Aburto has captured the rare phenomenon of a school of fish swirling into an undersea tornado.
Caught at the bottom of the Sea of Cortez’s Cabo Pulmo National Park off the coast of Mexico, Aburto stated that these fish congregate to reproduce around the reefs of the park itself.
Accompanied by David Castro, this "David and Goliath" series captures how tiny his companion looks as compared to these fish.
Yet, some detractors have questioned the authenticity of these photographs, and have even accused Aburto of corralling the fish just so he could take his pictures. The photographer maintains his stance—he stated that these doubts arise because not many people know about the mating habits of fishes, and that it is very rare for divers to capture such a phenomenon.
”It has become increasingly more rare to see these types of spawning aggregations because overfishing has left fish stocks so depleted,” Aburto added.
The photographer hopes that these images will raise awareness of the destruction of undersea parks.
Check out these gorgeous photographs below.
[via Daily Mail, images via Fubiz]