UPY 2025

UPY 2018 Behaviour - Highly Commended
'Nurse shark mating is no gentle affair'
Shane Gross

I had seen courtship behaviour at this South Eleuthera site in 2015 so I made a plan to try to capture it in 2016, but the weather didn't allow it. Luckily I got my chance in 2017 by camping out for 3 days at a beach nearby. On the second morning I woke up just before sunrise to the splashing sound of mating nurse sharks just 50 steps from shore in 2 feet of water. I had to calm myself down, get my camera settings where they needed to be and then watched and slowly approached on foot. The males came over to check me out and once they saw I wasn't a female shark, turned away. Once the males were locked on to the females pectoral fins they were so distracted it was like I wasn't even there.

Judge's comment: Wow mating sharks! But Shane hasn’t just capturesd rarely seen behaviour, he has also recorded the critical moment, with the male chomping onto the pectoral fin of the female for a better grip. I love how his composition also includes the third shark, slinking off, let out from the action. Alex Mustard