These extraordinary pictures show one of natureÍs most powerful and dramatic events being played out before the eyes of an astonished amateur photographer, Alexander Sofonov. Having been herded to a fateful dead end under the sea, hundreds of millions of sardines formed these huge balls as a desperate bid to escape attack by predators. What followed was a frenzy with thousands of hungry hunters going in for the kill, including sharks, dolphins, whales and even gannets plunging from the sky and plucking helpless sardines from the water.