The beautiful 'dance' of the giant fish in the ocean

The spectacular scene recorded off the coast of Long Island, New York, USA shows thousands of silver fish curled into giant blocks.

Large numbers of sardines weave together in silver-gray patches, as the sun reflects off the scales creating an enchanting scene. Sometimes they jumped up and splashed, sometimes they jumped over the crystal clear water.

These species tend to migrate to warmer waters in the south Atlantic in the fall and winter in North America, then back north in spring and summer. Joanna L Steidle was fortunate to witness and capture the moment with a beautiful drone.

Sardines play an important role in the marine ecosystem of the Atlantic Ocean. Some conservationists call them "the most important fish in the sea" in reference to the book of the same name by H. Bruce Franklin.

Overwhelmed by the scenery of thousands of fish swimming in the sea.

Many believe that this species needs special protection because they are the food of many other species such as dolphins, humpback whales, sharks and rays.

Earlier, the Utah Wildlife Foundation captured and shared images of thousands of fish from planes into lakes across the region. Usually about 95% of fish dropped from a plane will survive the fall into the lake. Each such flight will bring about 35,000 fish to bring to the remote mountain lake that is difficult for other vehicles to reach.

Large numbers of animals congregating are usually only seen during migration seasons. However, whenever they appear, they create an enchanting scene.