UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Macro - Third
'Nest buddies'
Dan Bolt

The corkwing wrasse you can see in the background was actually busy building a nest under the pier. This means he was very distracted by his duties and would regularly come back to the same spot to add more gathered pieces of seaweed.
The nudibranch had been making its way along a near-by piece of kelp, and I only had to wait for a minute or two before it made its way up a seaweed stump enabling me to grab a few shots just at the moment when wrasse and nudibranch were both in frame.

Judge's comment: When I first saw this image I thought it was lucky to have the wrasse appear in the background but, having read the photographer’s back story, I did him a disservice :-) The image was intentional, well planned, timed and positioned which makes it even more impressive.
- Peter Rowlands