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