UPY 2025

UPY 2017 Macro - Commended
'Larval lionfish'
Steven Kovacs

This image was taken on a black water drift dive in Palm Beach, Florida to look for alien looking pelagic animals, plankton and the larval stages of many creatures that drift out in the open ocean in their early stages of development. Many of the animals seen during black water dives are very small and can move quickly when illuminated by powerful dive lights, so getting a nice image is, not only challenging but, very rewarding as well. On one particular dive I was very fortunate to come across this rare tiny Lionfish in its early larval stage and was fortunate to get a photograph of it just as it flared it's beautiful fins for the camera.

Judge's comment: Peter Rowlands: Judging is a very subjective process and as I write this caption some two weeks after the judging I can't help but feel that I should have fought more for this exquisite image to be pushed a little higher up the order.