Sea Weed Sentinel

Photographer

Category

Nature Photography - Underwater

Company

Julian Hebenstreit

Submission Group

Professional

Year

2024

Country / Region:

Australia

Although it is admittedly hard to spot, there is a fish in this photo, the sargassum frogfish. It spends it's life in a ball of sea weed, floating on the open ocean with no sense of direction. The Ocean is a desert and a bunch of sea weed can be imagined as an oasis, it provides shelter for juvenile and adult fish, which in turn attracts bigger predatory fish. The sargassum frogfish, although small in size, uses that shelter as a hunting ground. Unsuspecting fish stick close to the seaweed, looking for cover, unknowingly swimming right into their demise.