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Audun Rikardsen's Image
A call from a friend’s son told Audun of a creature bobbing around in a fjord outside Tromsø.
Investigating by boat, he found this bearded seal snoozing at the surface, its distinctive whiskers dried into curls in the midnight sunshine. It seemed surprisingly trusting, taking one brief peek at him before nodding off again. Bearded seals commonly sleep head up in the water, floating vertically, a practice known as bottling. Further north this is thought to be a tactic to avoid predation by polar bears. When hauled out on the ice they tend to be wary and remain near the edge, head facing the water ready to escape.
Behind the lens
Audun Rikardsen
Norway
Growing up in a small fishing community in northern Norway, Audun developed a lifelong fascination with the Arctic’s landscape, culture and wildlife – both above and below the ocean’s surface. While he remains a part-time photographer, he’s a full-time professor in biology at the UiT Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. There he uses this combination to integrate photography into his scientific fieldwork and to inspire and share his scientific results with the public.
Image details
- Canon EOS 5D Mark III
- 8-15mm f4 lens
- 1/160 sec at f10 • ISO 1000 • Canon 600 flash • Aquatech housing
- Tromsø, Norway
Copyright in Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition photographs remains the property of the respective photographers. You may not copy, share, reproduce or republish the photographs except as expressly permitted by copyright law. For media image usage enquiries, please contact us.
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