Jennifer Marohasy

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Megafauna

Winners of  The Inaugural Great Barrier Reef Megafauna Expedition Photographic Competition

ORIGINAL FOUR CATEGORIES:

  1. Largest coral colony,  is 3.6 metre Porites sp. colony at Myrmidon Reef by Jenn Mayes (More information and a blog post about the winning coral photograph, click here.)
  2. Largest clam, is 1.47 metre clam at Grub Reef at Grub Reef by Jenn Mayes  (More information and a blog post about the winning clam photograph, click here.)
  3. Largest fish, that is not a ray or shark, is 2.3 metre Queensland grouper at Yongala by Dave Baxter
  4. Largest ray or shark, is 2.8 metre tawny nurse shark at Yongala by Dave Baxter

ADDITIONAL DOUBLE CATEGORY – REPTILES:

  1. Largest snake is 1.4 metre olive sea snake at Yongala by Jenn Mayes
  2. Largest turtle is 2.1 metre hawksbill sea turtle at Yongala by Laura Boderke

WILD CARD AWARDS – JUDGE’S FAVOURITES:

  1. ‘Mona Lisa Underwater’ by Dave Baxter
  2. ‘Eagle Ray at Yongala’ by Jenn Mayes
  3. ‘On the Edge of Myrmidon’ by Laura Boderke

The plan is to have an award’s night with an exhibition at an art gallery, one day.   In the meantime the $500 prize money has been awarded to each of the winners in each of the categories, to a total of A$4,500.

‘Mona Lisa Underwater’ of Kate Armstrong by Dave Baxter.

Update 12th September 2024

Announcing the winner of the first category ‘Largest Coral Colony’:  Jenn Mayes’ photograph of Nadine Huth holding a metre-long measure above a mega Porites sp.. Using ImageJ software the coral colony was calculated to measure 3.0 by 3.6 metres.

Jenn Mayes lives on Great Keppel Island. She is a Dive Master, Skipper and Photographer.

Update 8th September 2024:

Dave Baxter, Jenn Mayes and Laura Boderke boarded on schedule and completed every dive successfully all the way to Myrmidon Reef, including a drift dive on the outer exposed eastern edge beyond the Great Barrier Reef proper, and into the South Pacific Ocean.

Dave Baxter and his scuba buddy Kate Armstrong on the outside eastern edge of Myrmidon Reef.

We are still measuring the megafauna in the photographs taken by Laura, Jenn and Dave — using more than one method and cross checking.  As a result, and given the large numbers of Porites spp., clams, rays, sharks and fish photographed, it may be a week before all the data is in, and only after that, can the winners for each category be determined.  After that they will be announced.  Thank you for your patience.

Laura Boderke photographing Seb Falk above a mega Porites in the Garden of Porites, Myrmidon Reef, September 6, 2024.

Update 2nd September 2024:

It is the case that Daniel Hampton and Michael Cee are late scratchings for the photographic competition as we departed Townsville Breakwater Marina at 11pm on Monday 2nd September, with a forecast for extremely challenging weather conditions.

Jenn Mayes boards the MV Sea Esta on the afternoon of Monday 2nd September, with her ‘yardstick’ an 80 cm tall flamingo.

Announcing the five successful megafauna photographers:

Announcing the Five Megafauna Photographers

Jennifer Marohasy  Tel. 041 887 3222.  Yeppoon,  3rd August 2024

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Photographic Competition & Expedition 2024

In celebration of the megafauna at the Great Barrier Reef, this dive trip includes Yongala Wreck, Wheeler Reef and Myrmidon Reef in the Central Section of The Great Barrier Reef.

It will be FREE passage, a bed, all meals and up to 14 dives for five competitors.  Depending on the number of applicants the final five may be decided by lottery. 

At a conference in London last year, singing the praises of the Great Barrier Reef, I sparked the idea for an annual competition in search of the megafauna – the largest corals, rays, sharks, fish, clams and whales at the Great Barrier Reef.

That idea is now a reality with the MV Sea Esta departing Townsville Breakwater Marina for 4 days (5 nights). All aboard Monday, 2nd September 2024 – by 8pm!

SCHEDULE

Monday, 02.09.2024 depart for Wheeler Reef (8pm)

Tuesday, 03.09.2024 Wheeler / Grub Reef – depart to Myrmidon Reef

Wednesday, 04.09.2024 Myrmidon Reef – depart for Chicken Reef

Thursday, 05.09.2024 Chicken Reef – depart for Yongala Wreck.

Friday, 06.09.2024 Yongala Wreck – depart for Townsville

Saturday, 07.09.2024 disembark in Townsville (8am)

SELECTION CRITERIA 

  1. Be enthusiastic about the Great Barrier Reef and its megafauna
  2. Be a certified scuba diver, with camera skills and a camera
  3. Be prepared to sort and share photographs according to standardized procedures each day of the expedition (September 3-6th)
  4. Photographs are potentially valuable scientific observations/know how to photograph including to accurately show the size of the organism, and
  5. Be prepared to be a part of the story: to communicate what you saw, what you photographed/filmed and what you missed each day

Send your resume with covering-email communicating your understanding of the above five selection criteria to jenn@jennifermarohasy.com before 5pm, Monday 29th July 2024.

Depending on the number of applicants, the final five competitors may be decided by lottery.

FOUR CATEGORIES

  1. Largest coral
  2. Largest clam
  3. Largest fish, that is not a ray or shark
  4. Largest ray or shark or whale.

This is a photographic competition, and you retain the copyright while allowing Jennifer Marohasy and Adrenalin Snorkel and Dive the opportunity to use your images in promotions for future expeditions, at photographic exhibitions, and on social media celebrating the Great Barrier Reef’s megafauna.

FOUR PRIZES 

Each winner, of each of the above four categories, will receive A$500.  A single participant could win a total of A$2,000 – if they win each category.

Photographs musts be high resolution images and can be portrait, wide angle or extracted from video; they must include some type of yardstick (could be a buddy) to provide an estimation of true size.   The photograph must have been taken underwater during the period of the expedition (September 3-6, 2024). For more information see conditions of entry.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

  • All entrants must be on-board the MV SeaEsta for the duration of the marine megafauna expedition.
  • All images submitted are to be the work of the submitting photographer and taken during the expedition.
  • Electronic retouching and cropping of images are permissible.
  • No composite images permitted.
  • Do not remove metadata from the image.
  • There may be a request to the submitting photographer for an original file if there is doubt over the validity of the submitted image.
  • Images can be portrait or landscape but must be at least 3969 pixels at 240 pixels per inch on their longest edge. (This means that the image is an A3 or 420mm x 297mm).
  • Files submitted to be high-quality JPEG.
  • Maximum of 4 images per photographer per category.
  • Emphasis for judging will be on finding the largest coral, clam, ray, shark, fish and whale – where more than one participant filmed the same ‘largest megafauna’ then other criteria including awe and beauty will be considered.
  • Judges’ decisions are final and not open for debate.
  • Prizes for first place in each category may be awarded on the last night of the expedition – if everything goes to plan, or later.
  • All entries, including the winning entries, may be displayed at exhibitions in Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne and possibly also London – if these opportunities presents.
  • Entrants retain copyright while agreeing that all and any images submitted may be used by Jennifer Marohasy and ‘Adrenalin Snorkel and Dive’ including on social media and to advertise the competition in future years.

This competition is about stepping into the Great Barrier Reef and returning with a record of your observations of the marine megafauna – that you are prepared to share.

Jennifer Marohasy  Tel. 041 887 3222.  Yeppoon,  11th July, 2024