Ocean Art 2025 – 1st Place Blackwater

1st Place Blackwater

“Tired fish”

The Story:

One of my favourite topics to come across on blackwater dives is the goosefish, often known as the monkfish. So once I started seeing pictures of a never-before-seen species of larval goosefish taken off Kume Island, Japan, I knew I needed to go to and attempt to discover one. Blackwater diving within the very deep waters off Kumejima, Japan, is an thrilling new alternative, and though discovering my goal fish was an extended shot, I booked an prolonged keep in hopes of getting fortunate. After almost two weeks of nightly looking out and nearing the tip of my keep, my elusive topic all of a sudden appeared. Unfortunately, this stunning little fish turned out to be extremely uncooperative and tough to {photograph}. After spending a while with it, I used to be very lucky that, for one temporary second, it determined to yawn whereas dealing with the digicam. I by some means managed to press the shutter at that precise prompt, ensuing on this picture

Location:

Blackwater dive off Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Equipment Used:

• Nikon D500
• Nikon 60mm macro
• Ikelite housing with twin Ikelite DS230 strobes

Camera Settings: