Honorable Mention Compact Behavior
Pierre–Benoît Querton
“Where All Starts“
The Story:
Sometimes the reef gives you gifts you couldn’t plan for.
On a night dive in Komodo, Indonesia, we spotted a Spotted Reef Crab (Carpilius maculatus) wandering across the sand, clearly carrying something in her claws. Curious, we followed along. Then she stopped, like a performer who’d found her audience. She started shaking her claws rhythmically, releasing thousands of eggs into the water. Tiny spheres caught our beams, floating upward into the darkness like underwater confetti. Once done, she simply walked off, disappearing into the reef as if closing her act. The whole thing lasted about three minutes. We just floated there, looking at each other in disbelief. Witnessing crab spawning is genuinely rare—it happens at night, lasts just moments, and you need to be in the right place at the right time. The other divers were off exploring elsewhere; just the two of us got this private show. There’s something deeply moving about watching life begin this way—thousands of eggs entrusted to the ocean, a new generation set adrift into the unknown. It’s the very origin of the cycle, which is why I named this image “Where It All Starts.” Minimal editing here—just some exposure tweaks to balance the light against the black water.
Location:
West Gili Lawa Darat, Komodo, Indonésia
Equipment Used:
- Camera – Olympus TG-6
- Housing – Olympus Housing PT-059
- Strobe/light – 1 Sea and Sea Ys-D3 Duo
- Lens – Weefine WFL-02
Camera Settings:
- ISO 200
- F/13
- Shutter speed 1/50s
