UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Compact - Highly Comended
'Boop!'
Georgie Bull

Before 2021, my only interaction with a grey seal involved being caught off guard by the infamous bull in Brixham Harbour. I should add that this was at night in poor visibility. I love seals, but such scenarios don't lend themselves to appreciating their beauty! In May 2021, I visited Lundy with a group of friends to finally dive with seals on purpose. May bloom was in full swing; the water column was full of Ctenophores and other small planktonic organisms. I really struggled to get any images that weren't clouded by the visibility. This image was the only one I managed, thanks to one very inquisitive individual that found my dome port rather fascinating. If I had a face like that, I'd never get sick of my own reflection either.

Judge's comment: Very good achievement of this very fast moving animal with only a compact camera. The quality of the image is just excellent and the composition also very good. - Tobias Friedrich