2021 APoY finalist, Scott Portelli

Finalist Adventure Photographer of the Year

Scott Portelli Tonga

18°40'58.3"S 174°03'28.4"W

A humpback whale calf crashes back into the ocean. “The humpback whale has one of the most powerful tails in the animal kingdom,” says photographer Scott Portelli. A young humpback calf propels its three-tonne body from the water with a spectacular re-entry into liquid space. I watched as the baby whale started to propel itself from 10 metres below. As it leaped out of the water, I was inches away. Truly, a very close encounter.”

BEHIND THE LENS

Scott Portelli Australia

ABOUT THE IMAGE

Glassy calm water
No current
Taken while snorkelling
Site accessed by boat

Scott Portelli is an award-winning wildlife, nature, aerial, and underwater photographer and filmmaker based in Esperance, Western Australia. With thousands of hours spent in remote regions, his work focuses on conservation, education, and capturing wildlife with a low-impact, non-invasive approach. Scott has won Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year (2021, 2024) and earned recognition from Wildlife Photographer of the Year (2016, 2022). He has spent over a decade documenting Antarctica and the Sub-Antarctic, producing a fine art portfolio that reveals rare glimpses above and below the surface in some of Earth’s harshest environments.