Ocean Photographer of the Year - Human Connection: People and Planet OceanOcean Photographer of the Year - Human Connection: People and Planet Ocean 

Winner Ocean Photographer of the Year – Human Connection: People and Planet Ocean

Craig Parry

The Human Connection Award: People and Planet Ocean is awarded to the photographer who best reveals our connection with the ocean, being part of nature, not apart from it.  

Craig Parry is an award-winning Australian ocean and nature photographer and filmmaker, renowned for capturing intimate moments in the natural world. His work focuses on storytelling—often from the air or beneath the sea—highlighting wildlife, conservation, and the beauty of remote landscapes.  

With a background in visual arts and a deep passion for the ocean, his unique perspective invites audiences to connect more deeply with the environment and inspires action through his incredible photography.

Location: Seven Mile Beach New South Wales, Australia  

Equipment: DJI Inspire 3, X9 Camera, 35mm f/2.8 Zenmuse Lens  

Settings: 1/2000, f/4, ISO 200  

Image size: 143.5 x 143.5cm

Wall text

Rescue teams and members of the local community attempt to rescue a stranded humpback whale. “For 15 hours, they worked to save her,” says Parry. “Sadly, she could not be saved. While the outcome was heartbreaking, witnessing the collaboration and compassion shown was incredibly moving – a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when people come together.”  

About the image

Humpbacks get their name from a humped area on their lower back at the dorsal fin that is accentuated by the arching of their backs when diving. They’re big - up to 17m in length and weighing up 36 tonnes.  

This stranded humpback weighed 30 tonnes.  

Humpbacks are commonly dark grey, with white patches on the belly, on their long, pectoral fins and the underside of their tail. Their pectoral fins have a serrated outer edge, and humpbacks have slim, knobbly heads. Barnacles are common on their fins and head. They have up to 35 throat grooves, from the throat, extending to at least their navel.  

Description 

This photograph was taken high above a rescue scene. It’s mid-morning on a cold day with large swell, It was photographer Parry’s first experience with a stranded humpback whale.  

The wet beach sand is caramel coloured.  An undulating triangle of shallow, white-frothing and greenish-tinged, sea-water fills half of the image, spreading diagonally across the sand from the top left of the image, to almost to the bottom edge, at right.

In the centre of the image, a flaccid and barnacled whale lies on her side at the water’s edge. She faces to our right, her throat grooves deflated, flattening her against the sand. Against her back, a wide frill of frothing seawater is emanating out into the shallows. Her head and neck are exposed and her body is inadequately covered in three wet, white fabric pieces and a large, dark blue tarpaulin.  

Seven workers, members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service team, are closest to the whale. Three of the workers wear orange high visibility vests and yellow hats. One worker is in the water closest to her back, tending to the humpback’s body covering.  Most of the workers are standing between the whale’s outstretched pectoral fin and her dark tail, which is half covered in swirling water, at left.  

Seven more fully dressed onlookers, topped in pale-coloured sun hats are scattered meters from the mammal, towards the bottom edge of the image. They stand out of reach of the shallow water. Each figure casts a shadow to their right. Their long shadows are many times smaller than the struggling mammal before them.  

There is a wall mounted Touch panel of this image for you to explore, located to your left, if you are facing the image, standing at the ground tile for this work.  

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