THIS SHOT OF CRAB-EATER SEALS SWIMMING UNDERNEATH AN ICEBERG IN THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA TOOK THE TOP AWARD AT THE 2020 UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR COMPETITION IN LONDON EARLIER THIS YEAR.

The winning photographer is Frenchman Greg Lecoeur – a former National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year winner.

“The balletic rhythm of these crab-eater seals and the ethereal landscape of the pitted iceberg creates a composition that draws you into a corner of the world that few people have witnessed,” commented one judge.

“A deserved and unanimous winner which combines photographic beauty, composition, exquisite light and delicate colours. Perfect poses from the seals make this a celebration of natural life and a most enduring image,” added another.

The photo – titled Frozen Mobile Home – also won the top award in the Best Wide-Angle category.

To shoot the picture Lecouer travelled to Antarctica on a small yacht, documenting the wildlife on icebergs as they drifted at the whim of polar currents. “Massive and mysterious habitats,” he says. “Little is known about how wildlife thrives around these mobile homes. Icebergs fertilise the oceans by carrying nutrients from land that spark blooms of marine life and also provide homes for larger animals, like these crabeater seals.”

Lecoeur lives in Nice, France but works full time as a photographer, travelling the world documenting life in the oceans.

This year’s competition attracted a record 5,500 entries from 500 photographers representing 70 countries.