UPY 2025

UPY 2016 Wide Angle - Winner
'Underwater fisherman'
Mike Korostelev

Cages are more commonly associated with photographing great white sharks, but I constructed a cage to keep me safe as I captured the fishing behaviour of the bear. I waited many hours in the cold water for the bear to come close enough to make my photo. The bear starts his fishing by sitting down, putting his head under the water and looking for fish. Once the fish starts to ignore him and moves closer he makes his crucial lunge to snare a large salmon in his paws, or teeth. He would usually stay underwater for about 20 seconds. This bear came to this place in the river several times a day. Each time he caught about 5 fishes and then went for a rest on the beach.

Judge's comment: Alex Mustard: This unforgettable image is far more than amazing portrait of a wild brown bear underwater. It is a precisely timed behavioural portrait, capturing the peak of the action as the bear leaps for a meal and swishes his claw through the stones to snag his food. It is a great composition, taken in a split second in frigid waters of Kamchatka.