Finalist for the IUCN World Parks Congress Photo Competition!

Some of my images have just been selected as finalists for the SAVED Photography Compeition organised as part of the 2014 IUCN World Parks Congress.

The IUCN World Parks Congress is a gathering of the most influential people involved in protected area management that takes place once every 10 years. This year this landmark event is held in Sydney, Australia.

Here is one of the images I submitted along with its caption, which account for 50% of the judging process:

AGAINST ALL ODDS – Sea turtles are probably some of the most studied yet mysterious animals inhabiting the world’s oceans. These instinctive, long-lived reptiles undertake epic journeys across the ocean, only to regularly return to the shores of their birth to give rise to the next generation. Unfortunately today, of the 7 recognised sea turtles species 6 are identified as threatened to extinction on the IUCN Red List, due to a wide array of threats ranging from by-catch fisheries through to poaching, marine pollution, coastal development and climate change. This female green turtle’s (Chelonia mydas) shell is covered with algae from her long voyage back to Lady Elliot Island (a Marine Protected Area and major nesting ground for the species in the southern Great Barrier Reef). Her return ‘home’ symbolises a small ray of hope for the species as one out of her thousand eggs laid will likely make it to adulthood and follow her fin strokes.