Underwater photography competition winners
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 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.’
Highly Protected Marine Reserves
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 prize winninig photographs Top prize
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.
Click here to read about watching basking sharks in the UK.