So stoked and honoured to been named the winner of the ‘threatened species’ category in this year’s @australiangeographic nature photographer of the year competition. It’s a dream come true to win an award in this competition and I’d like to thank everyone who has been there along the way throughout my photography journey. What makes it even more special was my great friend @ashkarasphotography took out the overall nature photographer of the year with an epic shot of a tiger shark alongside a whale carcass we found in Coral Bay, Western Australia! This image of a whale shark hunting a bait ball was captured while free diving on the Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. This particular hunting behaviour is so rare that it has only been documented a handful of times and only described scientifically this year. I was fortunate enough to provide some of my images to the paper alongside some of my closest mates who have also documented this type of feeding behaviour. Hopefully this image can draw attention to not only the need to protect the whale shark but also the smaller lesser thought of species such as the bait fish in which the larger species rely on. This image alongside my other shortlisted manta ray image will be on display in the @southaustralianmuseum from this Saturday the 27th of August to October 30th along with the @australianmuseum in Sydney from Saturday the 17th of September to the 11th of December. A special thankyou to @nikonaustralia for their support of the past few years and congratulations to all of the winning and shortlisted photographers in this year’s competition 🙏✌️ #ausgeo #seeaustralia #whaleshark #ningalooreef #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #underwaterphotography #australiangeographic #southaustralianmuseum #nikonaustralia