Honorable Mention, Marine Life Behavior

Cameron Azad

"Onward and Upward"

Cameron won a gift certificate from Bluewater Travel!

The story:  It was just my guide and me on a late night dive, the moon was 50% visible. We were finishing off the dive in twenty feet of water, poking around in the rocks, off-gassing. He pointed to a good-sized crab moving to the top of a rock, positioning itself in the water column. At first I was disinterested in just another crab, but his repeated motions drew me in for a closer look. The crab seemed unusually unafraid of me and I quickly learned why. She was carrying a lemon-sized clutch of eggs on her underside, and started frantically scratching at them with her legs, releasing the eggs up into the current. In 25 seconds her body was unburdened of the eggs, and she scampered back down to safety. It happened so quickly, but I'd fired off 10 frames. What fun!

Location:  Puerto Galera/Sabang Harbor, Phillippines

Camera:  Nikon D800E, Nikon 60mm macro lens, Nauticam housing, dual Inon z240 strobes

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