Ocean Photographer of the Year accessibility - Second place

Jade Hoksbergen is 29-year-old French Taiwanese underwater photographer and professionally trained diver. Her images have won numerous national and international awards, including Ocean Fine Art Photographer of the Year 2023.

Location Isle of Noss, Scotland 
Equipment Sony A7R V, Sony 28-60mm lens at 28mm, Nauticam WWL, Nauticam housing, Retra Pro strobes 
Settings 1/250, f/11, ISO 250 
Image size 143.5 x 143.5cm

Wall text 
A northern gannet dives into the water to catch its prey. With a 180 centimetre wingspan, they are one of the largest seabirds in British waters. “Whilst their size alone is impressive, what makes this bird remarkable is its ability to plunge-dive at high speeds,” says Hoksbergen. “I wanted to capture the beauty of this incredible feat: the moment a northern gannet plunges into the sea, like a bullet piercing through the calm surface of the sea. Northern gannets have a number of adaptations that make it a true ‘ocean bird’. These adaptations enable them to dive from heights of 30 metres, hitting the water at speeds of up to 60 mph.” or 96.5km/per hour

About the image 
The photographer was able to access the site by boat. It was taken mid-morning on a warm, clear, summer’s day while snorkelling. The water temperature was 12 degrees in a nature reserve off the coast of Shetland Islands, Scotland.

A gannet breaks the surface of water, plunging below. Darkness surrounds the flurry of activity. The gannet’s bright body brings a trail of bubbles down into the water. The bird’s wings are compacted into sharp angles either side of its lean, pale chest.

Its neck is outstretched in the act of capturing a long, thin silver and brown fish by the head. Behind the gannet, and at some distance to us, a thin, smoky spray of filtered light marks the difference between above and below the surface.

The large bird leaves choppy ripples on the water’s surface at the very top of the image. Surrounding its plunge is a loose, organic ring of small bubbles. White flecks float in an undulating ring above.

Submerged and surrounded by inky nothingness, a jet of bubbles is releasing from its feathers into the water, widest above its wings and tapering up toward the surface. Its white wings form an arrowing, sharp ‘M’ with a flurry of grey-tipped, scrunched tail feathers behind its shoulders. Dark, ridged and webbed feet, one either side of its body, splay in the gloom.

The gannet’s orangey brown head and neck are extending down into the water, feathers darkest near its sharp, blue-black bill. In its beak is the soft, scrunched and bloodied head of a silver and brown fish.

Its little body curving to the left. A row of serrated belly fins lead to a small, dark tail fin almost lost to the darkness.