Article body copy

These colors may appear lighthearted, but it was difficult to watch as this male giant damselfish attempted to ward off wave after wave of invaders, all intent on feeding on its eggs, which lay nearby.

It was fall 2022, and I was diving around a sea lion rookery on Los Islotes, a small island in Mexico’s Espiritu Santo Archipelago National Park. Most visitors focus on the sea lions, but something else drew my attention: a swirling mass of vibrant colors surrounding a rock face, which, upon closer examination, turned out to be a distressed damselfish battling a posse of rainbow wrasse and Mexican hogfish. They picked at the eggs while the much larger damselfish attempted to harry them away.

For 30 minutes, I watched with pity as the damselfish father tried to fend off the wrasse and hogfish—the drive to protect its nest was irrepressible yet futile. The damselfish had the advantage of size, but the hungry predators had strength in numbers.

I set my camera for a long exposure shot and followed the giant fish’s movement with my lens. In the final image, I captured the defending father looking down at the pillagers who swooped in for an easy meal, preparing to face off with them again. I didn’t stick around to see the outcome—my dwindling air supply forced me back to the surface too soon.