News
Dancing Octopus Wins International Photography Prize
A photograph of a hunting octopus sees French diver Gabriel Barathieu named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017. Baratheiu’s photograph triumphed over 4500 underwater pictures entered by underwater photographers from 67 different countries.
Barathieu’s “Dancing Octopus” photo was taken in the lagoon of the tiny island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Barathieu explains “I had to wait for a low spring tide when the water was just 30cm deep (1 foot) so that the octopus would fill the water column. I got as close as possible with a wide angle lens to create this image, which makes the octopus look huge.”
“Dancing Octopus” by Gabriel Barathieu
“Both balletic and malevolent, this image shows an octopus that really means business as it hunts. The way it moves is so different from any predator on land, this truly could be an alien from another world,” commented competition judge, Alex Mustard. “It was taken in knee deep water, showing that underwater photography is open to anyone who is prepared to dip their toe in the water.”
The title of British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 goes to Nick Blake, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, for his photo “Out Of The Blue” taken in a freshwater sinkhole in Mexico, known as Chac Mool Cenote. Blake commented “underwater photographers can move freely in three dimensions, so I adjusted my position in the water to capture the symmetrical framing of the light beams by the rocks”.
“Out Of The Blue” by Nick Blake
Competition judge Martin Edge commented “I love the enclosure of the light within the Cenote, the composition contains all the sunlight so that the eye of the viewer cannot escape.”
“Oceanic In The Sky” by Horacio Martinez
The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition also aims to promote new photographic talent. Argentinian Horacio Martinez was named as Up & Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 for his image “Oceanic In The Sky” photographed in Egypt. “I noticed this oceanic whitetip shark patrolling in the distance and exposed for the sun beams, and was pleased by the dreamlike effect. Oceanics are great subjects for close ups as they are anything but shy. Yet, I wanted to capture their apparent loneliness in the big blue.”
Chair of the judges, Peter Rowlands commented “The photographer has seen the light and realised its dramatic effect extremely well and used it to contrast the small shark in a lonely world. Very evocative indeed.”
The title of Most Promising British Underwater Photographer, 2017 goes to Nicholai Georgiou for his image “Orca Pod” taken in the depths of winter in northern Norway. “the days are short and the water is barely above freezing, but with orca around the cold is quickly forgotten. The light was beautiful as the sun skimmed the horizon, but the water was dark and foreboding. Then these orca swam by, nice and close. It was a moment which will be hard to top.”
Chair of the judges, Peter Rowlands summed it up neatly by commenting “I’m jealous.”
“Orca Pod” by Nicholai Georgiou
A notable category winner is Melvin Redeker from the Netherlands who won British Waters wide angle with the first photo of orca (killer whales) taken in Shetland in the UK. Redeker explains “We studied the Mousa pod over a few weeks and decided the best opportunity would come if I hid on the seabed where the orcas were hunting seals. Staring in a wall of water, suddenly the pod appeared. Totally silent. Eye to eye with these mighty apex predators, my heart skipped a few beats.”
Chair of the judges, Peter Rowlands commended “this is a groundbreaking shot for British waters.”
About Underwater Photographer of the Year
Underwater Photographer of the Year is an annual competition that seeks to celebrate photography beneath the surface of the sea, lakes, rivers and even swimming pools. British photographer Phil Smith was the first underwater Photographer of the Year, named in 1965. Today’s competition has 10 categories, testing photographers with themes such as Macro, Wide Angle, Behaviour and Wreck photography, as well as three categories for photos taken specifically in British waters. This year’s judges were experienced underwater photographers Peter Rowlands, Martin Edge and Alex Mustard.
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 Awards
Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017: Gabriel Barathieu (France)
British Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017: Nick Blake (UK)
Up and Coming Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017: Horacio Martinez (Argentina)
Most Promising British Underwater Photographer: Nicholai Georgiou (UK)
1. Wide Angle
Winner: Ron Watkins (USA)
Runner Up: Nick Blake (UK)
Third: Edwar Herreno (France)
Highly Commended: Eero Hällfors (Finland), Fabrice Guerin (France) Yannick Gouguenheim (France) Damien Mauric (UK)
Commended: Patrick Neumann (Germany), Anatoli Myshlyaev (Canada), Mario Vitalini (UK)
2. Macro
Winner: Yatwai So (Hong Kong)
Runner Up: Jenny Strömvoll (Mozambique)
Third: Dragos Dumitrescu (Romania)
Highly Commended: Fabio Freitas (Brazil), Susannah H. Snowden-Smith (Cayman Islands), Dragos Dumitrescu (Romania), John Parker (UK)
Commended: Steven Kovacs (USA), Luc Rooman (Belgium), Katherine lu (Singapore)
3. Wrecks
Winner: Csaba Tokolyi (Hungary)
Runner Up: Andrey Narchuk (Russia)
Third: Kieran Hatton (UK)
Highly Commended: Nadya Kulagina (Kazakhstan), Gianni Pecchiar (Italy), Torbjorn Gylleus (Sweden), Tanya Houppermans (USA)
Commended: Marcus Blatchford (UK), Nadya Kulagina (Kazakhstan), Steve Jones (UK)
4. Behaviour
Winner: Qing Lin (Canada)
Runner Up: Jean Tresfon (South Africa)
Third: liang fu (China)
Highly Commended: Mikko Saareila (Finland), Greg Lecoeur (France), Pasquale Vassallo (Italy), Simone Caprodossi (United Arab Emirates)
Commended: Warren Baverstock (United Arab Emirates), Luc Rooman (Belgium), Edwar Herreno (France)
5. Portrait
Winner: Ferenc ifj. Lorincz (Hungary)
Runner Up: Guglielmo Cicerchia (Italy)
Third: Dragos Dumitrescu (Romania)
Highly Commended: Damien Mauric (UK), Liang Fu (China), David Barrio (Spain), Jeff Milisen (USA)
Commended: Greg Lecoeur (France), Francis Perez (Spain), Adriano Morettin (Italy)
6. Compact
Winner: Jenny Strömvoll (Mozambique)
Runner Up: Fabio Russo (Italy)
Third: David Alpert (UK)
Highly Commended: Nicolas Cimiterra (France), Jenny Strömvoll (Mozambique), Ferenc ifj. Lorincz (Hungary), Alexander Franz (Germany)
Commended: Jenny Strömvoll (Mozambique), Linda McKean (USA), Fabio Russo (Italy)
7. Up and Coming
Winner: Horacio Martinez (Argentina)
Runner Up: Sean Landsman (Canada)
Third: Catalin Craciun (Romania)
Highly Commended: Nicholai Georgiou (Oman), Simon Staiger (Germany), Jade Hoksbergen (UK), Dave Baker (UK)
Commended: Lena Remy (France), Patryk Pinski (UK), Christophe Lapeze (France)
8. British Waters Wide Angle
Winner: Melvin Redeker (Netherlands)
Runner Up: Richard Shucksmith (UK)
Third: Trevor Rees (UK)
Highly Commended: Steve Jones (UK), Spencer Burrows (UK), David Peake (UK), Trevor Rees (UK)
Commended: Laura Storm (UK), Cy Sullivan (UK), Ellen Cuylaerts (Cayman Islands)
9. British Waters Macro
Winner: Kirsty Andrews (UK)
Runner Up: Matt Doggett (UK)
Third: Paul Colley (UK)
Highly Commended: Robert Bailey (UK), Becky Hitchin (UK), Trevor Rees (UK), Trevor Rees (UK)
10. British Waters Compact
Winner: Simon Yates (UK)
Runner Up: Paula Bailey (UK)
Third: Ian Wade (UK)
Highly Commended: Mark Launchbury (UK ), Ian Wade (UK), Paula Bailey (UK), Paula Bailey (UK)
Commended: Kerry Lewis (UK), Guy Mitchell (UK), Charles Erb (UK)
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To see all the winning images, click here.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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