UPY 2025

UPY 2018 Behaviour - Highly Commended
'Honu Love At Dusk'
Renee Capozzola

Just after the sun had set, I was about to get out of the water as I had been photographing the green sea turtles during sunset but I then noticed a large turtle underneath me swimming very fast. I assumed it was chasing another turtle, so I quickly dove down to see what was going on and then saw two turtles come together and flip upside down. As I tried to capture a few shots of them, the turtles then rose to the surface and started mating there. I quickly changed my settings and proceeded to try and get an over-under shot of this unique behavior which was a challenge as the turtles were splashing about and spinning in a circle. This is the only time I have seen turtles mate although there are many turtles in Hawaii thanks to their strong protection under state law.

Judge's comment: Whilst the behaviour between the turtles is very interesting, it's the backdrop of the scene which caught my eye when we first judged this image. The angle of view with the cloudy night sky on the horizon provides so much depth to this shot. The split works so well with the dip of the water providing a small space for the left eye of the turtle. The eye contact continues. Notice the eye of the back turtle which follows through to its mate. Martin Edge