For the last 16 years, Scuba Diving Magazine’s “Through Your Lens Underwater Photo Contest” has served as a fantastic source of inspiration for many divers and photographers. This year’s competition produced an excellent outcome!
Winners were picked from a total of 2,636 photographs, the most in the competition’s history. The judges worked tirelessly to choose the five greatest photographs to be recognized as one grand prize winner and four first-place winners in four categories: behavior, compact camera, macro, and wide angle.
The big award this year went to photographer Evans Baudin, whose image depicted a beautiful whale shark carrying more than 50 fish in its mouth. According to the magazine, the photograph captures the close contact with the whale shark, making it a “mind-blowing and jaw-dropping sight.” Evans Baudin shot the image in Baja California, Mexico. He also prepared a synopsis for it:
“In June 2020, I went on an excursion with a special permission to photograph marine life and the consequences of reduced sea traffic owing to C.O.V.I.D-19.” Our skipper exclaimed, ‘Whale sharks, just behind you!’ — a 12-meter-tall female – after two hours in the ocean with a school of silky sharks at the surface.
The amazement was amplified when I discovered that 50 remoras were happily enjoying a free ride in her mouth!” The whale shark is the biggest marine animal, with a maximum size of 20 meters. They frequently work with little fish by allowing them to brush their teeth and ride anywhere they like in their mouth.
Check out below the other winner photos of the year:
First Place in Behavior, taken by Jules Casey in Port Phillip Bay, Australia
First Place in Compact Camera, taken by Tobias Friedrich in Anilao, Philippines
First Place in Macro, taken by Jeffrey Haines in West Palm Beach, Florida
First Place in Wide Angle, taken by Martin Strmiska in Puerto Morelos, Mexico
