Winning 1st prize was the hermit hermit crab, immortalized crawling on a pile of plastic
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himIt is one of the photos awarded by the Ocean Photography Awards 2020 but we do not like it at all. Nothing against the precision in the details, the light and the moment "caught" by the author. It is the content that is literally a punch to the stomach.
Although the overall first prize was won by the beautiful manta rays of Canadian photographer Nadia Aly, there were six categories of awards. Among these is that of Ocean Conservation Photographer of the Year, conservation photographer. To win the 1st prize in this case was the hermit hermit by Matthew Sharp, immortalized crawling over a pile of plastic in a shell made from man-made waste.
An image that comes from one of the places that at least in the imagination should be dreamy, uncontaminated: the Maldives. Unfortunately, this is not the case as revealed by other images from the Caribbean where you are navigating through piles of garbage.
The award was conceived in early 2020 by Princess Yachts, the UK's largest yacht manufacturer. Together with Oceanographic Magazine and the non-profit organization SeaLegacy, it has set itself the goal of involving one billion people in the protection of the ocean and the discovery of marine beauties.
The jury, made up of seven members of the world-renowned SeaLegacy collective, including acclaimed Canadian wildlife photographer and documentary maker Paul Nicklen, marine biologist and award-winning photographer Cristina Mittermeier and Shawn Heinrichs, had to choose from over 3 participating photos but faced with Sharp's work they had no doubts.
And the hermit crab trapped in the waste is yet another testimony of the damage we are causing to the Earth and to the animals that populate it.
“At Princess we truly believe that the Ocean Photography Awards will grow to be recognized not only as a fixture for photographers around the world, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to keep the conservation of our oceans and aquatic life at the forefront. floor. The ocean is truly our playground and collective efforts to maintain its health and well-being can be galvanized by these awards and captured images, ”said Kiran Haslam, Director of Marketing, Princess Yachts.
The image should remain etched in our mind and remind us, day after day, that we must change our habits of life, consumption and food to avoid being suffocated, like the hermit crab in the photo, in our own waste.
Sources of reference: Powerboat, Ocean Photography Awards
READ also:
- The couple of "widowers" penguins immortalized as they embrace and contemplate the Melbourne skyline together
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- The terrifying images of plastic balloons that are killing animals (and polluting the oceans)
- The crow eating the plastic bottle on the beach of Fiumicino
- On the coasts of Chile, birds are building their nests with our plastic waste
