UPY 2024

UPY  British Waters Compact - Highly Commended
'Glowing prawn'
James Lynott

Over recent years I have captured images of many different marine species displaying underwater fluorescence under blue/UV lights, but I am still being surprised by the different species that have this ability. I have seen fluorescence in other crustaceans before, but I had never really tried this technique with common prawns before. I think part of the reason is they are usually very skittish and don’t like posing for photos. That was true on this night dive in Loch Long back in October 2023, there were plenty of large prawns around, but they were not very cooperative so it was quite tricky to capture images of them, especially using the CMC1 wet lens. I was really pleased how this one turned out with the prawn showing particularly strong fluorescence.

Judge's comment: What stunning colours and details in this picture, we've never seen a fluorescent prawn before.
Alex Mustard