Honorable Mention Marine Life Behavior
Shuo-Wei Chang
“Egg-cellent Guardian“
The Story:
This image was taken at a popular local dive site in Washington, USA. A giant Pacific octopus (GPO) mother had taken residence in one of the newly constructed artificial reefs and laid her eggs shortly after. I was fortunate to document her incubation. To capture these photos without disturbing her, I used my EMWL wet lens, allowing me to fit the lens into her den while maintaining a respectful distance. This enabled me to photograph her entire body along with her eggs. This particular shot was taken about a month before the eggs hatched. It also illustrates the fascinating behavior of GPO mothers during incubation – they periodically blow water jets over their eggs to keep them oxygenated and clean.
Location:
Des Moines, Washington, USA
Equipment Used:
- Panasonic Lumix GX85
- Nauticam Housing
- Two Backscatter MF2 mini flash
- Nauticam EMWL 160
Camera Settings:
- f/11
- 1/100 sec
- ISO 400
