2nd Place Blackwater

Kat Zhou

"Blanket Reflection"

Kat Zhou won a 7 night cruise for 1 person on Coralia Liveaboard in 2025 or 2026, lower deck twin cabin (shared cabin, same gender) from Coralia Liveaboard

The Story:

I spent a week diving in Anilao, hoping to get the chance to photograph an adult female blanket octopus. One of my final nights, we ended up finding two octopuses! One of them swam away when we saw it, but this one stayed around for quite some time. Of course, we found her at the very end of the dive, and I had exactly 0 air left in my tank when she fully unfurled her cape, but luckily she was right at the surface - I keep a snorkel in my pocket when I dive, and this was the first time I've actually had to use it!

Location:

Anilao, Philippines

Equipment Used:

• Nikon D850
• Nikon 60mm macro lens
• Nauticam housing
• Inon Z330 x 2

Camera Settings:

• f/29
• 1/250s
• ISO 400