DIVE PACIFIC 178 Sept-Nov 2021

Deep feelers by Laurent
Ballesta, France, Highly
commended
In deep water off the French
Mediterranean coast, among
cold-water black coral, Laurent
came across a vibrant community
of thousands of narwhal
shrimps. Their legs weren’t
touching, but their exceptionally
long, highly mobile
outer antennae were. Research
suggests that such contact is
central to the shrimps’ social
behaviour, in pairing and
competition.
In such deep water (78 m
down), Laurent’s air supply
included helium (to cut back
on nitrogen absorbed), which
enabled him to stay at depth
longer and stalk the shrimps.
Narwhal shrimps often burrow
in mud or sand or hide among
rocks or in caves in the day.
They are also fished commercially
and when shrimp-fishing
involves bottom trawling over
such deep-water locations, it
destroys the slow growing coral
forests as well as their communities.
Nikon D5 + 15–30mm f2.8 lens at
30mm; 1/40 sec at f20; ISO 1600;
Seacam housing; Seacam strobes.
Net loss by Audun
Rikardsen, Norway, Highly
commended
In the wake of a fishing boat,
a slick of dead and dying
herrings covers the surface of
the sea off the coast of Norway.
The boat had caught too many
fish, and when the encircling
wall of the purse-seine net was
closed and winched up, it broke,
releasing tons of crushed and
suffocated animals.
Audun was on board a
Norwegian coastguard vessel
nearby, on a project to satellite
tag killer whales. The whales
follow the migrating herrings
and are frequently found
alongside fishing boats where
they feed on fish that leak out
of the nets. For the Norwegian
coastguard the spectacle of
carnage and waste was effectively
a crime scene. Audun’s
photographs became the visual
evidence in a court case that
resulted in a conviction and
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