For five years Laurent and his team returned to this lagoon, diving day and night to see the annual spawning of camouflage groupers. They were joined after dark by reef sharks hunting the fish.
Spawning happens around the full moon in July, when up to 20,000 fish gather in Fakarava in a narrow southern channel linking the lagoon with the ocean. Overfishing threatens this species, but here the fish are protected within a biosphere reserve.
Read more about how Laurent captured his winning shot or watch as he explores the importance of this unique event.
France
Laurent has authored 13 photography books on underwater wildlife. As co-founder of Andromède Océanologie he has been leading major expeditions for 10 years. He illustrates the underwater world as a naturalist and artist, whether through the first pictures of a coelacanth taken by a diver at 120 metres deep, 700 sharks of Fakarava hunting at night, or the deepest and longest dive in Antarctica.
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