UPY 2025

UPY 2017 Portrait - Commended
'Sealion playing with starfish'
Francis Pérez

In Los Islotes there is one of the most important Sealion kindergartens in Mexico. I went there looking for pictures of sea lions eating on the big sardine banks. I was not lucky, because there were no sardines, but I found many interesting things, such as the one I show in this photo, a juvenile sea lion playing with starfish. I was surprised to see the stars passing each other or even as they approached the camera with them in the mouth, to leave them and then to catch them again. My intention was to capture the moment when sea lions caught a star with their mouths, to capture a dynamic image. I spent about four hours in the water, I came and went to the area where there were more juveniles, until finally getting closer and little by little and with respect I was able to capture this photo.

Judge's comment: Alex Mustard: Fun and comedic character, revealing natural play behaviour, so important in the development of intelligent sea lions.