Justin was busy documenting an artificial reef experiment when the army of crabs appeared, with an octopus acting ‘like an excited child in a candy store’, as it chose its final catch. The irony of this unexpected encounter isn’t lost on Justin: ‘An aggregation of crabs the size of a football field wandered through the experiment and we had no idea why.’
Moments like these reinforce how little we know about Australia’s temperate reefs, and ocean ecosystems generally. Spider crabs usually come together for protection while they moult or mate, but these groupings were previously unknown in this area. Crabs like these are common prey for the Maori octopus – the largest in Australian waters.
Australia
Justin is a natural history photographer, photojournalist and member of the International League of Conservation Photographers. His recent photojournalism work focuses on ecosystem-based conservation stories in Australia and he’s contributed to more than 23 feature articles for Australian Geographic magazine. Justin’s images have been awarded in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition on seven occasions, including three category wins.
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