Sun Nomad

Commended - Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017.

British Waters Wide Angle Category.

Perfect conditions, ripple-free sea and a rare encounter are a kind of magic. Freediving in the remote blue waters of the Scottish Atlantic we came across this strange, saucer-like shape basking at the surface. A huge Sunfish flopping lazily from side to side! Mola Mola are one of the most mysterious and shy of all pelagic nomads and in the summer months they drift into our waters on the Gulf Stream.

Trying to frame these peculiar-shaped fish is something of a challenge. I approach it indirectly, finning slowly around to position the sun in just the right place which allowed this huge ocean traveller time to get used to me. Its skin was covered in parasites and I have a notion that it thought I was some kind of cleaning station, since it let me in so close.

"What a fantastic beast and beautifully photographed with the light perfectly illuminating it and its reflection."
Alex Mustard

Sigma 15mm fisheye @ 1/100 secs. f/10 ISO 200.

Excited to see that my image is in the UPYLondon Underwater Photographer of the Year 2017 exhibition at the Chavonnes Battery Museum, Clock Tower, V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa
(1st May to 30th November 2017)

Location: The Hebrides, Northern Atlantic, Scotland

Photographer: Laura Storm