Simon Stafford, UK
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016
Winner, Mammals
taken with:
Nikon D810 + 800mm f5.6 lens; 1/500 sec at f5.6; ISO 400; beanbag
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Eerie silence and a mound of lifeless bodies.....
the contrast with the mayhem of the previous day couldnt have been starker!
The day before thousands of wildebeest on migration...
through Kenyas Maasai Mara National Reserve had massed at the Mara River...
nervous of the crossing ahead.... and of the huge Nile crocodiles lying in wait.
Once one made the leap....
they all surged forward and the river became a maelstrom of flailing hooves and crocodiles!!!!
In their frantic efforts to get out of the water.....
they carved gullies in the riverbank..... and in over an hour....
as the gullies became deeper and deeper.....
more and more wildebeest slipped back down and died under the hooves of the ones coming out of the river....
the "site of the carnage was a sinister scene" he said....
‘There must have been 50 or more carcasses...piled two or three deep.’ ....
Spotted hyenas were already feeding......
and hippos and crocodiles had gathered in the river below.....
As Simon watched from the other side of the wide river....
well..Simon...there is a sight you dont see in England everyday :-)
anyway....he won the mammals Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016 award for this eerie picture!
enjoy!
by: Simon Stafford
