Ocean Photographer of the Year - Fine ArtOcean Photographer of the Year - Fine Art 

Winner Ocean Photographer of the Year – Fine Art

Marcia Riederer

Born and raised in Brazil, Marcia Riederer has been living in Australia for the past 17 years. Originally a biologist, Riederer has been photographing underwater for the past 7 years, taking her camera on dives. A photographer for 30 years, she is passionate about the ocean and wildlife.  

Location: Ribbons Reefs, along the Great Barrier Reef, Australia  

Equipment: Canon 5DIV, 16-35mm lens, Nauticam housing  

Settings: 1/200, f/7.1, ISO 400

Size: 143.5 x 143.5 cms

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A dwarf minke whale inspects the photographer. “These whales are known to visit the northern Great Barrier Reef during winter, making it the only predictable aggregation of the species in the world,” says Riederer. “These curious giants seem to acknowledge your presence. It’s a humbling experience, reaffirming the wonder of the ocean, and the need to conserve it.”  

About the image

The image was taken in the evening, whilst snorkelling in calm ocean, with very low wind and an overcast sky. The water was 25 degrees, and it was Riederer’s first time with the Minke whales.  

Dwarf Minke whales are considered at risk. One of the smallest of the baleen whale family, they grow up to 7.6 metres long, weighing up to 6 tonnes. They can live up to 60 years, and we think they breed every second year.  Minke’s are highly active and have been described as behaving more like Dolphins than whales, they are known to be inquisitive. They can travel almost 40 km/hr for short bursts and dive below the surface for up to 20 minutes.  

Each Minke whale has 55 to 67 ventral grooves on its underside. Ventral grooves are accordion-like folds made of skin and connective tissue on the throat that allow it to take in large amounts of water for filter feeding. These grooves run from under their chin, along the belly, stopping at the navel.  

Minke whales have the most complex and colourful markings of any of the baleen whales.  

They are mostly white, with black to dusky-grey shading. They have a dark band extending down the neck between their mouths and their ‘peck fin’ (the short, dolphin-shaped fin on their sides). This marking is called the throat patch. Within the dark throat patch, each whale has a white ‘shoulder blaze’. The peck fin’s tip is dark, giving way to white colouring on the fin that continues onto the body – the ‘shoulder blaze’

A dwarfe minke’s dark throat patch and shoulder blaze is prominent when a whale turns to expose its ridged underbelly. This brings us to the crisp, elegant photograph taken by Marcia Riederer.  

Description 

This is landscape, black and white portrait of a Dwarf Minke whale. The sharp-headed whale has a pale, long, narrow snout and curving body, Below the curved and turning whale, its grey and white peck fin extends downwards. The whale’s stark and striking, pistol-shaped form stands out against a rich, bubble-less, black background.  

On its pale underbelly, the Minke whale’s many horizontal ventral grooves catch shadows, adding to a sense of sleek movement.  

In the centre of the image, from within long, sleek eyelids a dark, direct side-eye is acknowledging us, framed in the whale’s throat patch.  

In its shoulder blaze, its left peck fin flattens against its body. The Minke whale is mid turn, swimming left, its tail hidden behind it, in the turn.  

The image has a stark, silent grace.  

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