UPY 2024

UPY  Marelux Macro - Winner
'Unsung'
Shane Gross

Walking along a rocky shoreline we would peer under rocks using a probe lens and my camera's LCD screen to check for plainfin midshipman nests. Once found I would lay on top of the barnacle-covered rocks, cutting my elbows, trying to compose images of fish most people have never heard of despite having one of the most interesting lifecycles of any animal. Plainfin midshipman are deep water fish that travel to the intertidal zone to spawn. The males sing to attract females and she will lay as many eggs as his singing deserves before moving on to the next singer. Now, the male has a chance to fertilize the eggs, but only if he is not beaten to the punch by a sneaker male who looks like a female. The singer male will then guard the nest never knowing the kids may not be his. Drama!

Judge's comment: A shoal of embryonic fish that are still attached both to the seabed and their egg sacs. A secret image revealing another incredible insight into life in the sea. But the photo isn't all about natural history, it is made by personality captured in the primary tiddler.
Alex Mustard