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Announcing the winner of Scubaverse.com’s Photo of the Year 2020

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This year, Scubaverse.com’s Underwater Photography Editor Nick Robertson-Brown is joined by UK-based Tour Operator Scuba Travel’s resident Underwater Photo Pro Mario Vitalini to choose a winner of our Photo of the Year award. Nick and Mario had a tough job on their hands to pick an overall champion for 2020; the winners of the monthly contest provided 12 fantastic images to select from, including marine life big and small, images using advanced photo techniques, and examples of animal behaviour. But after much deliberation, and in reverse order….

Highly Commended: Curious Booby by MichaelG

Nick: If there was an award for most humorous this would surely win! It is a super and unusual shot that made me smile and was unlucky not to do even better. It is a super shot.

Mario: This was my favourite picture and would have loved to put it in first but unfortunately on my laptop and my monitor it looks very soft, otherwise I have to say it is a very charming character with loads of personality and very well composed. 

3rd Place: Rana Verde Minore by Giannaccini Alessandro

Mario: This is an interesting example of split level, the background is not sharp, is even fairly out of focus but it shows very well the environment. In my opinion if the photographer had the background perfectly in focus it would have detracted interest from the main subject. The eye contact is perfect and the image is perfectly composed. I did not give it first because I think it lacks something on the bottom right. A rock or plant would have balanced the image.

Nick: I picked this image as it is striking, different and has several elements that hold your attention. I particularly like the meniscus and how the surface tension lifts it over the subject.

2nd Place: A Mother’s Love by Cedric Peneau

Nick: This image jumps out of the screen and absorbs you in the moment. Reflections, sunbeams, diagonals and eye-contact. Excellent Shot. 

Mario: Humpback whale and calf. A huge subject but the photographer managed to get a perfect composition including some beautiful sunbeams and a very interesting reflection. Both faces are pin-sharp and the eye contact perfect. Cannot fault the shot.

Winner: Soaring into the Sun by Jay Clue

Mario: A gorgeous shot with beautiful lighting but in my opinion suffers a bit from the main ray, where my eyes get drawn, swimming away already.

Nick: I am in awe of this image and quite a bit jealous too! The sun’s rays, the motion the image invokes and the light on their backs. To have been there must have been amazing, but to capture it for us all to share… priceless.


Congratulations from all of the Scubaverse team to our winner and runners-up. Thank you to everyone that entered in 2020. We hope to see plenty more of your images in 2021!

Prizes include Mares diving equipment and travel vouchers from Scuba Travel!

Scubaverse.com would like to say a big thank you to our Photo of the Year’s sponsors, Mares and Scuba Travel.

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com

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Euro-Divers to close dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda

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Havodda

Euro-Divers have announced that as of 15 April 2024, they will no longer be operating the dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda (formerly known as Amari Havodda).

The popular dive centre chain released this statement regarding the closure:

Dear valid customers, business partners and friends,

We are leaving NH Collection Maldives Havodda – former Amari Havodda as of 15th of April 2024.

Unfortunately, the information reached us on short notice that we are no longer operating the dive centre at the resort.

It was a great pleasure to work with the Amari Hotel group and continue to work with the NH Hotel group.

We wish our partners great success with all their new changes.

Thanks a lot for cooperating during our time at the resort. We wish everyone with whom we have worked a good and hopefully successful future.

Euro-Divers continue to operate in several other dive resorts throughout the Maldives in addition to other locations.

To finds out more about Euro-Divers, visit www.euro-divers.com.

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Marine Life & Conservation Blogs

Creature Feature: Undulate Ray

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In this series, the Shark Trust will be sharing amazing facts about different species of sharks and what you can do to help protect them.

This month we’re looking at the Undulate Ray. Easily identified by its beautiful, ornate pattern, the Undulate Ray gets its name from the undulating patterns of lines and spots on its dorsal side.

This skate is usually found on sandy or muddy sea floors, down to about 200 m deep, although it is more commonly found shallower. They can grow up to 90 cm total length. Depending on the size of the individual, their diet can range from shrimps to crabs.

Although sometimes called the Undulate Ray, this is actually a species of skate, meaning that, as all true skates do, they lay eggs. The eggs are contained in keratin eggcases – the same material that our hair and nails are made up of! These eggcases are also commonly called mermaid’s purses and can be found washed up on beaches all around the UK. If you find one, be sure to take a picture and upload your find to the Great Eggcase Hunt – the Shark Trust’s flagship citizen science project.

It is worth noting that on the south coasts, these eggcases can be confused with those of the Spotted Ray, especially as they look very similar and the ranges overlap, so we sometimes informally refer to them as ‘Spundulates’.

Scientific Name: Raja undulata

Family: Rajidae

Maximum Size: 90cm (total length)

Diet: shrimps and crabs

Distribution: found around the eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea.

Habitat: shelf waters down to 200m deep.

Conservation Status : As a commercially exploited species, the Undulate Ray is a recovering species in some areas. The good thing is that they have some of the most comprehensive management measures of almost any elasmobranch species, with both minimum and maximum landing sizes as well as a closed season. Additionally, targeting is entirely prohibited in some areas. They are also often caught as bycatch in various fisheries – in some areas they can be landed whilst in others they must be discarded.

IUCN Red List Status: Endangered

For more great shark information and conservation visit the Shark Trust Website


Image Credits: Banner – Sheila Openshaw; Illustration – Marc Dando

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