Underwater photographers reveal hidden depths

9th July, 2007

The search for a new ‘face’ to help promote The Wildlife Trusts’ marine campaign is over after an image of a grey seal was voted the top choice by judges of a photography competition which attracted entries from some of the world’s leading underwater photographers.

In conjunction with the British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSoUP), The Wildlife Trusts asked photographers to plunge beneath the waves in a competition to find new faces to promote The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign for a robust Marine Bill to protect our seas. The resulting images are on display at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth until 14 July.

The winners were announced in a ceremony at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth on Saturday 7 July. The winning entries were:

1st - Martha Tressler – Grey Seal
2nd - Sally Sharrock – Jewel anemones
3rd - Trevor Rees – Boy jumping
Highly commended – JP Trenque – Basking shark

The judges were delighted with the quantity and quality of the entries, and the winning selection provide a great snapshot of the diversity of marine life we have around our shoreline. Lisa Browning, marine development manager at The Wildlife Trusts and one of the judges, said: “We were looking for images that convey the diversity, colour, beauty and fragility of marine life around the UK. We hope that, as part of our Marine Bill Campaign, these images will help convince the Government of the urgent need to provide better protection for the extraordinary range of habitats and wildlife in our seas.”

Martha Tressler, the winning photographer, received a trophy from The Wildlife Trusts. The winning images will feature in The Wildlife Trusts’ Natural World magazine, in marine campaign leaflets and on websites.

Explaining her attraction to underwater photography the winning entrant, Martha Tressler, said: “I love showing people the life and the colour.” Sally Sharrock, whose photo of jewel anemones came second, said: “Most people don't realise we have such colourful fish, corals and anemones in our waters and it's great to enlighten them." Trevor Rees, who works for Severn Trent Water as a commercial waste advisor and whose print was awarded third place, added: “The UK is special because we are an island and this means we have a very varied coastline. The range of habitats gives us a huge range of marine life to see and photograph”.

The UK’s seas are home to more than 44,000 animal and plant species – around 50% of our biodiversity. However, our seas are poorly protected compared to our terrestrial habitats. They are under increasing pressure as offshore activities increase and climate change alters marine ecosystems. One of the key demands of The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign for a Marine Bill is the creation of Highly Protected Marine Reserves (HPMR) where all fishing and damaging activities are prohibited.

The Government launched the Marine Bill White Paper on 15 March 2007 and The Wildlife Trusts will continue to campaign vigorously to ensure that the ensuing legislation provides robust protection for the UK’s seas.

For the last 12 months the public face of The Wildlife Trusts’ campaign has been Paul Naylor’s iconic photograph of a tompot blenny, one of the most endearing fish to be found in our waters. Thanks to the efforts of the competition winners now the tompot blenny will have some company as it continues to help promote the fight for greater protection of our marine wildlife.

Images

· Grey Seal, Farne Islands – Martha Tressler The Grey Seal is one of the more playful inhabitants of our seas, however seals could face an uncertain future as the fatal and highly contagious distemper virus (PDV) has been recorded in Denmark with fears it could spread to UK shores. How many died last time? In 1988 around 18,000 seals died. 10% of the UK population of grey seals did in those years. More than half of the worlds grey seal population lives and breeds around the U.K. coast. The largest populations are found on the Farne Islands, the Cornish coast and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.

· Jewel anemones – Sally Sharrock Jewel anemones are a type of coral. Yes we do have corals in UK waters. At times they form large, bright, multicoloured colonies, individuals clone resulting in whole colonies that have the same parent. Small, exquisite and beautifully coloured, jewel anemones are appropriately named.

· Boy jumping – Trevor Rees Rock pools are some of the most interesting and diverse areas on the sea shore. Some organisms may spend their entire lives in a single rock pool. It a hard life living in a rock pool where dog whelks predate other snails using a drill-like tongue and secretion of acid to get through the shell and soften the insides. Snake lock anemones fire darts of poison at any passing prey then entangle them in their tentacle waiting for them to die.

· Basking Shark – © JP Trenque 2007 The basking shark is the biggest wild animal to regularly visit Britain. They can grow up to 12m in length and can weigh up to 7 tonnes. This mighty behemoth chooses to spend most of each summer in coastal waters around Britain, often feeding at the surface in the view of the land. Although it has teeth, they have little to with the feeding process, as the basking shark, in common with many of the great whales, feeds only on tiny phytoplankton.

· Tompot Blenny – Paul Naylor This photograph of a tompot blenny is the current ‘face’ of The Wildlife Trusts’ Marine campaign.

High resolution versions of these images are available. Please contact Adam Cormack acormack@wildlifetrusts.org  or Anna Guthrie aguthrie@wildlifetrusts.org  

More Information

For further information please contact Adam Cormack on 01636 670082 / 07876 723876 or Anna Guthrie on 07887 754659.

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