Subject: Because the Marbled Snake Eel (Callechelys marmorata), nightly hunter of small fish and crustaceans, spends most of the day hidden in the seabed its gills don’t get the same amount of oxygen as a free-swimming fish. That is why they continuously open and close their mouth in order to pump oxygen rich water over their gills. When the eel senses danger it quickly retreats under the sand.
Technique: To get a satisfying image of an animal that’s buried for more than 80% under the sand it is important to film it from different angles. I filmed the jet stream of sand coming from the Snake Eel’s buried gills in close up. I believe that shot contributes to the whole story.
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