Great Barracuda

Photo: rovil · CC BY-NC

The Mediterranean barracuda at La Polacra form aggregations of hundreds of individuals above the pinnacle's summit between June and October, a behaviour that appears to be linked to the cold upwelling that concentrates sardine and bogue at the surface around the cape. From below, a large school seen against the lit surface is one of the most viscerally impressive sights in Mediterranean diving — a rotating cylinder of silver that reorients fluidly in response to the diver's position. Individual animals within the school are significantly larger than those found at inshore reefs, typically exceeding 60 centimetres and exhibiting the bold forward-eye gaze of active predators.