UPY 2025

UPY  British Waters Living Together - Commended
'Fishy ship'
Rick Ayrton

The 3 masted sailing ship Aracan collided with SS American 16 miles SW of Portland Bill, she sank in 40 minutes on 9th March 1874, thankfully there were no casualties. She lies in just over 50m of water and was carrying a mixed general cargo en-route to Hong Kong. I was diving this wreck in midsummer in good conditions, this image is opportunistic, capturing a group of divers as they come over the mound of cargo with a multitude of fish in the foreground. The foreground lighting is provided by my videolights which would have been on a low power setting, interestingly the iso is very high - 20000, despite this I do not believe there is much digital noise in the image and it shows what modern cameras are capable of.

Judge's comment: Wreckage, fish, divers and wonderful visibility. The image shows how any structure on the seabed is a mecca for marine life, shown off here in a very attractive image.
Alex Mustard