2005: Underwater Worlds - Runner-up
Magnus Lundgren (Sweden)
Ocean rider
Boredom led to this unusual image. After a deep dive in Sogne Fjord in Norway - the world's second largest fjord - Magnus had to hang around on a decompression stop at 5 metres (16 feet 5 inches) to avoid decompression sickness. Exquisite starfish larvae, just 15 millimetres (0.6 inches) long, floated by in the current. To kill time, Magnus set himself the challenge of photographing them. 'It took me ages to work out how to get them in focus,' he says. 'The trick was to drift with them in the current.' Just as he perfected this technique, a starfish sailed by with a minuscule passenger - an amphipod (a tiny, shrimp-like crustacean) holding onto the larva's gelatinous, pulsating extensions. 'It was a moment of true Lilliputian beauty.'
Nikon D70 with 50mm macro lens; 1/250 sec at f16; 200 ISO; two strobes.
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Adult awards Great hammerhead Charles Hood
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Adult awards Reclining emperor shrimp Malcolm Hey
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Adult awards Pike pose Michel Loup
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Adult awards Blue-spotted grouper Tim Laman
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