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Luminescent Jellyfish - 2nd Place National Wildlife Photo Contest (USA), '19

2nd Place - National Wildlife Photo Contest (USA), 2019, Underwater Wonders Category

Every night like clockwork, billions of organisms move upwards from the abyssal zone, through the water column, to feed and interact in the warmer, plankton-rich shallows. I captured this image during what’s known as a ‘Blackwater’ dive. It’s a niche activity that happens in the dark of night and involves descending into inky black water over deep ocean trenches where the phenomenon is most evident. There are no visual points of reference, just high-powered lights to attract migratory pelagic life.

The top 30 to 40 metres of the ocean becomes a concentrated soup made up of weird and wonderful spectacles along with their predators; planktonic animals, juvenile life forms, shrimps, critter larvae, jellies and so on. Many of these nocturnal species have glow-in-the-dark qualities and this jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca), is one of them. Diving in the thick of it all is like being in the middle of a bioluminescent firework display. Moving around in the water can trigger a magnificent lightshow of twinkling stardust. Lit from within, animals float by with kaleidoscopic colours oscillating through their core. It’s breathtakingly beautiful!

On this particular dive there was a very strong current running. I was tethered to a wooden dive boat, drifting through the open ocean. The tether is essentially a weighted shot-line that hangs from the outrigging structure down to a prearranged depth (15 - 20 metres in this instance). I was clipped onto that line, which meant I could relax, focus on my photography and not worry about where I was. Even so, the shot-line was swinging around wildly and it took some concentration and effort to line up any shots.

The jelly was pulsing upside down, being swept along at the mercy of the current. It drifted into range about a metre away. Once I had it pin-sharp in my viewfinder, the challenge was then to hold still in the water and create something arty. I had less than a minute before it swept past, pushed along at the whim of an untamed tidal current. Powerful underwater lights helped with focusing. My strobe lights and fast shutter speed froze the frame, enabling intricate detail to shine through. I wanted to capture a portrait with a space-age feel about it, something cosmic to depict life in innerspace. Waiting for the jellyfish to curl into itself depended on split-second timing, instinct, a slightly raised heartbeat and a kiss from lady luck.

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Totally thrilled to have my work feature across the pond in these fabulous awards. Closely aligned with conservation, the NWF ethos is close to my heart - so it means a great deal to achieve recognition in this way, raising awareness for the ocean realm.

Silver on the ceiling!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published in National Wildlife Magazine (USA) - December 2019 / January 2020 edition

Location: Blackwater (open ocean), Tañon Strait, The Philippines

Photographer: Laura Storm

Luminescent Jellyfish - 2nd Place National Wildlife Photo Contest (USA), '19

2nd Place - National Wildlife Photo Contest (USA), 2019, Underwater Wonders Category

Every night like clockwork, billions of organisms move upwards from the abyssal zone, through the water column, to feed and interact in the warmer, plankton-rich shallows. I captured this image during what’s known as a ‘Blackwater’ dive. It’s a niche activity that happens in the dark of night and involves descending into inky black water over deep ocean trenches where the phenomenon is most evident. There are no visual points of reference, just high-powered lights to attract migratory pelagic life.

The top 30 to 40 metres of the ocean becomes a concentrated soup made up of weird and wonderful spectacles along with their predators; planktonic animals, juvenile life forms, shrimps, critter larvae, jellies and so on. Many of these nocturnal species have glow-in-the-dark qualities and this jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca), is one of them. Diving in the thick of it all is like being in the middle of a bioluminescent firework display. Moving around in the water can trigger a magnificent lightshow of twinkling stardust. Lit from within, animals float by with kaleidoscopic colours oscillating through their core. It’s breathtakingly beautiful!

On this particular dive there was a very strong current running. I was tethered to a wooden dive boat, drifting through the open ocean. The tether is essentially a weighted shot-line that hangs from the outrigging structure down to a prearranged depth (15 - 20 metres in this instance). I was clipped onto that line, which meant I could relax, focus on my photography and not worry about where I was. Even so, the shot-line was swinging around wildly and it took some concentration and effort to line up any shots.

The jelly was pulsing upside down, being swept along at the mercy of the current. It drifted into range about a metre away. Once I had it pin-sharp in my viewfinder, the challenge was then to hold still in the water and create something arty. I had less than a minute before it swept past, pushed along at the whim of an untamed tidal current. Powerful underwater lights helped with focusing. My strobe lights and fast shutter speed froze the frame, enabling intricate detail to shine through. I wanted to capture a portrait with a space-age feel about it, something cosmic to depict life in innerspace. Waiting for the jellyfish to curl into itself depended on split-second timing, instinct, a slightly raised heartbeat and a kiss from lady luck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Totally thrilled to have my work feature across the pond in these fabulous awards. Closely aligned with conservation, the NWF ethos is close to my heart - so it means a great deal to achieve recognition in this way, raising awareness for the ocean realm.

Silver on the ceiling!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Published in National Wildlife Magazine (USA) - December 2019 / January 2020 edition

Location: Blackwater (open ocean), Tañon Strait, The Philippines

Photographer: Laura Storm