Text by Hendricus Willem.
Photographer Simon Runting captured these chaotic scenes in Auckland on June 17 as hungry seabirds battled over migrating juvenile eels. The images show variable oystercatchers being chased by gulls hoping to snatch away their freshly caught prey.
Each winter, millions of tiny glass eels arrive in New Zealand after an extraordinary 15-month journey from deep ocean trenches near Tonga. Their arrival creates a brief feeding bonanza for local birdlife, with gulls, terns and oystercatchers competing for every slippery mouthful before the young eels continue their journey upstream.