UPY 2025

UPY  Behaviour - Highly Commended
'The Last Waltz'
Ralph Pace

Market squid (Loligo doryteuthis) mate and lay eggs before dying in Monterey, California. As we swam out to our dive site, comet Neowise danced brilliantly to the west, the Milky Way illuminated the east and the water flashed electric blue with bioluminescence. The connection to the cosmos was strong but the alien like squid of the deep, in their last dance before dying and joining the heavens, was what we were chasing.
Squid runs can often feel chaotic and rhythmic at the same time as thousands of squid dart around looking for mates and laying eggs. With everything revolving around the egg mats they make, you can easily be engulfed in a highway of these alien-like creatures. Using a slower shutter speed, I was hoping to convey the energy felt while diving with these remarkable animals.
Squid runs always feel foreign to me as a highway of squid zip dance.

Judge's comment: Action, drama, behaviour! This huge spawning aggregation of squid is a riot of writhing bodies and arms. The long exposure, balanced against the underwater lights adds texture and energy to the image, taking us to the heart of the action.
- Alex Mustard