Nicholas Holton, Midnight Manta (ANIMALS 2022)

Having spent days on the lookout for manta rays from the shores of the Ningaloo Reef, clocking up tens of kilometres across the soft sand, I managed to spot two beautiful rays in the sandy shallows. As I swam out to join them I noticed three more barrel rolling repeatedly in the plankton-filled depths further from shore. Completely pre-occupied with feeding I was able to position myself right in the firing-line of the manta as it scooped up mouthful after mouthful of plankton with impossible grace. Staring into the enormous mouth of the manta and seeing the gill-plates light up is something that will stick with me forever more and made the perfect black and white composition.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.