UPY 2026 Behaviour - Highly Commended

UPY 2026 Behaviour - Highly Commended
'Whale Heat Run'
Katherine Lu

I traveled to Tonga in 2023, three years after my original trip was postponed due to COVID. That year saw unusually high whale activity, possibly due to the long absence of people. But rough seas made photographing them difficult. We pushed farther offshore and spotted what looked like four whales—but on our first jump, we counted ten. It was a heat run! On the second entry, we were better positioned, and the whales came directly toward us. It was an exhilarating and intimidating moment, watching 40-ton giants swim straight at us. I captured this image as they approached and passed beneath us. The female leads the group, just out of view, while the 15 males in this frame compete in an intense courtship ritual, using speed, bubble curtains, tail slaps, body lunges and other displays of physical dominance to win the mating rights.

Judge's comment: An extraordinary image of perhaps the biggest testosterone rush underwater, and, in terms of sheer tonnage, probably the world. This is the sort of image we judges live for. Great photographically and compositionally, it would be difficult to top this for action.

Peter Rowlands