Goliath - Douglas David Seifert - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2007

2007: Underwater Worlds - Highly Commended

Douglas David Seifert Enlarge image Goliath

Douglas David Seifert (United States of America)

Goliath

'I found this goliath grouper, with its massive mouth and swirling mane of silver fish, lurking in a shipwreck off Jupiter, Florida. The cigar minnows are clustering around it to protect themselves from other predators such as trevally, a type of fish.' Groupers feed mainly on crustaceans such as lobsters. The goliath grouper is the largest reef fish in the Atlantic, up to 2.5 metres long and weighing up to 363 kilogrammes. But its size has not protected it from being fished almost to extinction in the Atlantic. Though the species is now protected under Florida law, large individuals such as this one are still rare.

Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II + 15mm fisheye lens; 1/250 sec at f8

This photograph is available to buy as a print.