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.
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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