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An attention grabbing picture of a pink river dolphin breaching the floor of the Amazon river sees Kat Zhou from the USA named Underwater Photographer of the 12 months 2023. Zhou’s picture ‘Boto Encantado’ completely frames this endangered species, whose numbers are falling yr on yr, by photographing it concurrently above and beneath the floor at sundown.“There’s a legend amongst locals that river dolphins, or ‘botos’, can remodel into good-looking males referred to as ‘boto encantado’ to seduce ladies,” says Kat. “Although I didn’t witness the transformation, I used to be enchanted by these stunning mammals differently.” Underwater Photographer of the 12 months is an annual competitors primarily based within the UK that celebrates pictures beneath the floor of the ocean, lakes, rivers, and even swimming swimming pools. Listed below are the remainder of the profitable photos.Underwater Photographer of the 12 months 2023‘Boto encantado’ – Kat Zhou (United States)There’s a legend amongst locals within the Amazon that river dolphins, or “botos”, can remodel into good-looking males referred to as “boto encantado” at evening to seduce ladies. Although I didn’t witness this elusive boto transformation, at nightfall, I used to be enchanted by these stunning mammals differently. After seeing how botos generally convey their beaks above water, I knew I wished a break up shot at sundown. Although the water was so darkish that I used to be capturing blind, this dolphin gave me an ideal pose and smile!As indigenous communities settled by rivers within the Amazon, river dolphins started dwelling nearer to human populations, even making use of meals scraps. Frequent dolphin sightings led to tales like boto encantado, however there’s a darker facet to the legend, because it was usually used to excuse pregnancies after ladies had been assaulted or compelled into prostitution. Whereas botos are usually revered as legendary creatures, many scorned husbands have killed dolphins due to these tales. Moreover, many river dolphins have additionally been killed to be used as fish bait. Although there have been bans on this observe, it has not been eradicated. With this, alongside much more vital impacts like mercury poisoning because of the gold mining business and enormous growth initiatives which have disrupted the river ecosystems, I concern that sooner or later botos will really change into not more than legendary creatures.British Underwater Photographer of the 12 months 2023 ‘The swarm’ – Ollie Clarke (Australia)AdvertisementsThe whale sharks on the Ningaloo are sometimes accompanied by bait balls like this one, the place the small fish use the shark as a floating shelter. Nevertheless, this one was big, a lot denser, and with much more fish than normal, so I used to be excited to {photograph} it. The shark nearly seemed as if it was getting fed up with the small fish, and it was making an attempt to shake off the swarm. It could make steep dives after which ascend once more straight away thrashing its tail, however the fish would simply swirl much more densely across the poor shark, who would have barely been in a position to see by means of the bait-ball! I hoped to spend a little bit of time photographing this shark, however after some ups and downs, he disappeared into the depths of the Indian Ocean, an encounter I’ll always remember.Most Promising British Underwater Photographer of the 12 months 2023‘An island’s wild seas’ – Theo Vickers (United Kingdom)AdvertisementsSunlight beats down by means of a marine jungle of Himanthalia algae on the chalk reefs of the Needles Marine Conservation Zone. The purple-tipped tentacles of Snakelocks anemones (Anemonia viridis) stand up from the forest ground. Putting rock formations, the Needles on the Isle of Wight appeal to near 500,000 guests yearly. But, like a lot of Britain’s marine habitats, the wonder and biodiversity of the island’s chalk reefs that lie beneath, from nudibranchs and rays to cuttlefish and cuckoo wrasse, are largely unknown to most. Exploring the shallower reefs on a summer season night, my mission was to seize a wide-angle picture that documented this gorgeous native habitat, combining each the towering forests above and the anemones that rule the chalk seabed beneath. After a number of unsatisfying makes an attempt, I stumbled upon this gully filled with Snakelocks and, sinking into the forest beneath, discovered the composition I had been in search of.‘Save Our Seas Basis’ Marine Conservation Photographer of the 12 months 2023‘Hopeless’ – Alvaro Herrero (Mekan) (Spain)A humpback whale dies a gradual, painful, and agonizing loss of life after having its tail entangled in ropes and buoys, rendering its tail utterly ineffective. This a mirrored image of what not solely our oceans are struggling but in addition our planet, the product of man’s selfishness and lack of accountability. Taking this {photograph} was, for me, the saddest second I’ve skilled within the ocean. Particularly as a result of I’ve spent a lot time with humpbacks underwater, experiencing eye contact and interactions and seeing with my very own eyes how they’re sentient and clever beings. However I’m “completely happy” to have the ability to seize that second and present the world what is going on and what we’re doing. I actually hope this picture makes us conscious, opens our eyes, and drives us to make basic adjustments.Marelux Large Angle Winner‘Fade’ – J. Gregory Sherman (United States)My dive companion and I chartered a ship to reach at Stingray Metropolis on Grand Cayman earlier than daybreak in order to seize the morning gentle and undisturbed sand ripples. Simply because the solar broke the horizon, a line of southern stingrays headed straight for me, and I captured this picture as they glided throughout the sand. Utilizing a big dome port allowed me to create a break up picture exhibiting the intensely colourful daybreak sky contrasted in opposition to the almost monochromatic stingrays and sand beneath the floor chop.Marelux Macro Winner‘Unsung’ – Shane Gross (Canada)Strolling alongside a rocky shoreline, we might peer below rocks utilizing a probe lens and my digital camera’s LCD display screen to test for plainfin midshipman nests. As soon as discovered, I’d lay on high of the barnacle-covered rocks, reducing my elbows, making an attempt to compose photos of fish most individuals have by no means heard of regardless of having probably the most attention-grabbing lifecycles of any animal. Plainfin midshipman are deep-water fish that journey to the intertidal zone to spawn. The males sing to draw females, and she is going to lay as many eggs as his singing deserves earlier than transferring on to the following singer. Now, the male has an opportunity to fertilize the eggs, however provided that he isn’t crushed to the punch by a sneaker male who appears to be like like a feminine. The singer male will then guard the nest, by no means realizing the youngsters will not be his. Drama!Wrecks‘Engine with a saddle’ – Brett Eldridge ( United States)We had been out scanning targets in June after we noticed a really small however promising sonar blip 230 ft deep. I equipped and jumped in, hoping for one thing particular. After some looking, my coronary heart began racing once I first noticed fish, then the propeller of an nearly utterly intact, single-engine WW II airplane! It turned out to be an F8F-1 Bearcat, a uncommon plane that Neil Armstrong famously mentioned was his favourite and has been described as “An Engine With a Saddle.” Alone on the primary dive with restricted backside time, I took sufficient pictures to construct a “draft” mannequin and establish the wreck. Needing a greater photogrammetry mannequin for the UPY contest and with deadlines rapidly approaching, I booked December 19 and crossed my fingers. We, luckily, had epic circumstances, and I received the pictures I wanted. It was my final dive of 2022.Habits‘Make love not struggle’ – Yury Ivanov (Indonesia)A few coconut octopuses “making love” (mating). I knew that I might discover this species of Octopus at one of many dive websites close to Tulamben village (Bali, Indonesia), and they’re lively solely at evening time in that place. I dive there solely after 7 pm, hoping to {photograph} one thing distinctive – their mating. I’ve carried out greater than 30-night dives on the dive web site and eventually received fortunate. The picture reveals the tip of their love.Portrait‘The trunk’ – Suliman Alatiqi (Kuwait)The elephant’s trunk is without doubt one of the most distinctive anatomical options within the pure world, and this picture goals to emphasise it. Fortunately, he was interested in my digital camera and was completely happy to really feel it out, which gave me the chance to seize this angle regardless of in any other case dangerous circumstances for an over-under picture (uneven water and poor visibility). In my first makes an attempt, the nostrils weren’t absolutely lit due to how shut they had been to the lens (which was crucial for the meant photographic impact). So I returned at a selected time window once I thought the solar’s angle could be optimum and managed to totally gentle the nostrils. This added much more element to the important thing a part of the picture, with out which the picture wouldn’t be as efficient.Black and White‘El Blanco – The White One’ – Don Silcock (Australia)The picture was taken on the final morning of a five-day journey to Peninsula Valdés in Argentina, in August 2022, below a particular allow to enter the water with the Southern Proper Whales that collect there between June and December every year.The mom, who may be seen within the background, accepted our presence and allowed the calf to work together with us. It was very playful however cautious to not hit us with it’s tail and appeared to be actually having fun with all of it – nearly as a lot as we had been!White calves are very uncommon and referred to domestically as “El Blanco” or the white one! Peninsula Valdés is an extremely vital protected haven, and breeding floor for the Southern Proper Whales of the southern Atlantic, and Argentina has carried out a superb job of managing it. It was, for sure, my best-ever underwater expertise!Compact‘Klunzinger’s wrasse in movement’ – Enrico Somogyi (Germany)After I was snorkeling in Marsa Alam, I noticed numerous Klunzinger’s Wrasses. Considered one of them was notably curious and really concerned about my lens. I used to be in a position to take some good basic wide-angle photos. After some time, I figured it might be a good suggestion to strive an extended publicity. So I set my digital camera to the smallest aperture, f11, the ISO worth to 64, and the publicity time to 1/13s. For this image, I moved the digital camera ahead a bit whereas the shutter was launched. This created the zoom impact within the decrease a part of the picture. I used to be very proud of the end result.British Waters Macro‘Egg eaters’ – Kirsty Andrews (United Kingdom)I’ve lengthy admired others’ photos of nudibranchs feeding on the egg coils of different nudibranch species internationally. I’d additionally seen this nudibranch species, Favorinus branchialis, earlier than, and I knew that it fed on this manner, however by no means seen it in motion till just lately. I used to be, due to this fact, thrilled to search out three massive specimens feeding on an enormous coil of eggs in Shetland, Scotland. The eggs had been a number of inches throughout, in a large spiral, so the problem was to isolate an interesting composition of eggs and nudibranchs.British Waters Residing Collectively‘Pipe reef’ – Dan Bolt (United Kingdom)We had been initially on this web site in Loch Fyne for the fields of Firework Anemones, however of equal curiosity was an outdated pipe that had this patterned concrete protecting masking alongside its size. This shallow synthetic reef was dwelling to many various species, together with some massive Langoustines (Nephrops norvegicus), who had been seemingly unperturbed by my presence.British Waters Compact‘Crack rock blenny’ – Tony Reed (United Kingdom)I had been going again to this spot on Crack rock to seize the variable Blenny for a number of weeks. He was caring over his eggs contained in the crevice, so I used to be making an attempt to seize the purpose when the eggs had been hatching. Being such an inquisitive little chap, he was at all times transferring round, getting nearer to the digital camera till he received thus far the place I took a couple of photographs. I didn’t keep too lengthy as I didn’t wish to have any destructive or detrimental results on the parenting habits. It has been nice to see a rise within the Variable Blenny round Torbay over the previous couple of years.You may see the entire profitable photos and runners-up on the Underwater Photographer of the 12 months web site.
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