UPY 2025

UPY  Wide Angle - Commended
'Aggregation of Mobula Rays in Baja California'
Vanessa Mignon

I was travelling to Baja California, Mexico, hoping to witness the mobulas ray aggregation. We had seen a few groups migrating in the bay, but the visibility was not great in the shallow waters. So one day we decided to head out at sea, looking for deeper, bluer waters. Soon enough we saw what we were hoping for. Mobulas jumping out of the water. We got in and found a tight ball of Mobulas circling and swimming in union. It felt like a beautiful, hypnotic danse.
Seeing big aggregations like the ones in Baja California at certain times of the year can lead to thinking that the mobula rays populations are doing well. Unfortunately, the IUCN red list indicates that the overall population is decreasing and lists the mobula rays as vulnerable.

Judge's comment: Excellent capture and the best Mobula image we have seen in the competition this year. The post production is on point which is also not always the case. The only point which we didn't like is the person in the top right corner, without this distraction the image would have finished higher.

Tobias Friedrich