WINNERS GALLERY

A school of spangled emperor and other reef fish gather at the surface while a mackerel cloud passes overhead.

A blue spotted lagoon ray feeds in the shallows of Coral Bay during sunset. “These rays can be found along the shoreline feeding during dusk,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “I was aiming to capture an image with a sunset the resembled the colours of the ray.”

A whale shark moves through a baitball on the Ningaloo Reef. “This is one of the rarest behaviours you can witness in the ocean,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “Only a few verified sighting have occurred over the years. Whale sharks are generally too slow to round the fish up themselves so rely on other predators, such as these tuna, to begin the hunt so they can take advantage and strike.”

“While out exploring the Ningaloo Reef I noticed a huge black bird off in the distance,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “After approaching the bird I realised it was a southern giant petrel, which are native to the Antarctic regions, so an extremely rare visitor to the tropics. Upon entry into the water the petrel immediately approached. The bird constantly tried to peck at my camera as I retreated in circles shooting. As I pulled the camera downwards from the surface, I managed to get in image that perfectly captured the curious and somewhat terrifying eye that had been chasing me for the past 30 minutes.”

A school of yellowtail scad fish surround a manta ray as it cruises the coastline of the Ningaloo Reef. “After six years of snorkelling with the local manta rays, this was the first time I had seen a school of fish like this surrounding one,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “I wanted to capture the uniqueness and density of the mass of fish surrounding the manta ray to show just how many fish there were.” 

A mother and calf dugong pass by the edge of the Ningaloo Reef and enter the lagoon in search of seagrass. “The SharkBay/Ningaloo coast has the largest population of dugong in the world,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “Despite these numbers, it is extremely rare to see one in the water. This curious pair circled for a few minutes before moving on to shallower waters.”

A leopard shark swims through the shallow lagoon of the Ningaloo Reef. “This particular image was one I had strived to achieve for a couple of years before the conditions and lighting were perfect,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “I wanted the most vibrant shark over the whitest and cleanest sand to highlight the colour and striking patterns for the image.”

A humpback whale rises from the Indian Ocean into the golden glow of a Western Australia sunrise. “While out filming a tourism video in a helicopter, we came across some humpback whales breaching in large swell,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “As we past overhead I was able to capture this image with my telephoto lens out of the side of the helicopter.”

“Tiger shark populations world wide are in serious decline,” says photographer Jake Wilton. “The Ningaloo Reef is one of the few hope spots for these apex predators. The sand flats of the mauds lagoon just north of Coral Bay is a unique hotspot where the sharks patrol the shallow crystal clear waters in search of prey.”