school of perch in a lake full of alage

Wildlife photographer of the year 2022

Wildlife photographer of the year #58 2022

I am honoured to be awarded a “ Highly Commended” in the underwater category for my image of an Underwater wonderland!

No wonder WPY is one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world. It is not only about amazing photographs but telling stories about wildlife and sharing them all with the world!

If you can, visit the yearly exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. The exhibition looks amazing, and I love backlight framing; every image stands on its own!

Underwater wonderland

Tiina Törmänen (Finland) floats through sheets of cloud-like algae in search of fish.

Tiina was thrilled to meet a school of curious European perch on her annual lake snorkel. During the previous three years, she had only ever found dead fish. Submerged in the surreal scene, she framed the orange-finned fish flying through clouds of pink-tinged algae.

Although it created a beautiful scene, algal blooms like the one captured here can cause problems for underwater life. A common cause of algal blooms is pollution, most often from fertilisers present in agricultural run-off or sewage. This enriches the water with nutrients, causing the algae to flourish, use up the oxygen in the water, block out sunlight and sometimes produce harmful toxins.

Yet this lake is in the middle of the wilderness, with no conceivable source of pollution. Recently, the summers in Lappland have been unseasonably warm, and the lake water has been unusually tepid, which suggests that global warming rather than pollution was behind this algal bloom.

How cool is that! My image was chosen to be displayed as a curtain at the entrance of the exhibition hall.
Underwater wonderland, 2021, Posio, Finland 
Awarded underwater category images. 
Exhibition at the Natural History Museum looks fantastic! 
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