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Juergen Freund's Image
Juergen Freund (Germany/Australia) enjoys a swim with venomous sea snakes.
As the tide receded around Fiji's Great Sea Reef, dozens of banded sea kraits headed for a lone mangrove tree - a regular hangout spot. To Juergen's delight, snakes arrived from every direction, and he recalls how they were 'swimming all over him' to get to the tree.
Sea kraits are among the most venomous animals in the tropical Indo-Pacific region but are not aggressive and very rarely bite people. Unlike most sea snakes, they leave the water to mate, lay eggs, shed their skin and digest food. Sea kraits are able to crawl and climb and have paddle-like tails, which enable propulsion under water.
Behind the lens
Juergen Freund
Germany/Australia
Juergen is a natural history and conservation photographer living in Tropical North Queensland, Australia. He is as much at home taking underwater photographs in the ocean as he is in freshwater, rainforests, deserts and up in the air. He is a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers. For more than 20 years, his images have been used for marine conservation by WWF.
Image details
- Nikon D3X
- 16mm f2.8 lens
- 1/160 sec at f11 • ISO 100 • Seacam housing • Seacam strobes
- Vaturova, Vanua Levu, Fiji
Copyright in WPY 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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