Image credit: Martin Broen / Ocean Photography Awards
The winners of the Ocean Photography Awards 2021 have been announced, with Amy Jan taking the top honor for her image of a green turtle surrounded by a glass fish. “I was out snorkeling when a colleague of mine told me there was a turtle about 10 meters down in a school of glass fish,” Ms Jan said of her image taken in Australia. “When I dived to see the bottom, the fish broke completely apart around the turtle. I told him: ‘I think the best picture I’ve ever taken’.” Amy Jan was voted Ocean Photographer of the Year.
In addition to Ocean Photographer of the Year, there were seven other awards in the competition. Henley Spears took second prize for her photo of seabirds, while third place went to Matty Smith for her stunning shot of a turtle hatching. The winners are displayed as part of an exhibition in London, UK.
“Diving among a barrage of gannets, I see the violent syncretism of these impressive seabirds as they dive to catch fish,” said photographer Henley Spears. “They hit the water at 60mph, an impact they can only withstand thanks to specially developed air sacs in the head and chest. The bird’s agility transfers it from the air to the ocean where it swims with incredible speed.” is also.”
A hawksbill turtle just 3.5 cm long and a few minutes old swims for the first time in Matty Smith’s photo. “It hatched from an egg just a few minutes ago with about 100 of its siblings. They made their way into the ocean as quickly as they could to disperse as quickly as possible and avoid the birds and fish predating me. Had to act quickly for the shot.” The photographer revealed.
Ben Thouard won the Ocean Adventure Photographer of the Year award for his shot of a surfer catching the wave known as tehupo’o in Tahiti.
In the Community Choice Award category, people voted for their photo of Phil De Glanville and surfer Jack Robinson riding the famous break called “The Right,” which is home to some of the heaviest waves in the world.
The title of Ocean Conservation Photographer of the Year went to Kerim Sabunkuoglu for photographing a dead moray eel on an abandoned fishing line in Turkey.
Gallis Horau took second place in the conservation category for a photograph of a gull caught on a ghost fishing line.
Martin Broen’s hypnotic shot of speleothems casting long shadows at Cenote dos Pisos won him Exploration Photographer of the Year.
Steven Kovacs photographs a rare deepwater cusk eel larva to take home the second prize.
Renee Capozola won the Female Fifty Fathoms Award. A lone blacktip reef shark raises its dorsal fin with the setting sun in Moorea, French Polynesia. “This over-under image was acquired using a wide-angle lens, a large dome port, and strobe flash to illuminate the underwater portion of the picture,” she said.
Meanwhile, Hannah Le Leu was voted Young Ocean Photographer of the Year. “A green sea turtle carefully on the surface for air, in a sky full of hungry birds,” is how she described her photo.
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