DEATH TRAP

GREEN SEA TURTLE
Chelonia mydas

Around 200 turtles are reported dead, injured or sick in Moreton Bay each year due to human-related impacts. They are struck by motorboats, consume plastics and become entangled in marine debris. This green sea turtle was found entangled in a discarded crab trap on a shallow sand flat.

Moreton Bay, Queensland

Nikon D810, Sigma 15mm, 1/125, f/18, ISO 320, 2x Ikelite DS161 strobes and Nauticam housing

INCIDENTAL ART

A photograph taken from above the tailing ponds, located in Worsley, from a Cessna 182. Earthmovers can be seen raking the ponds’ surface, attempting
to disperse the toxic slurry and aid the evaporation process. All the while, stained red wastewaters continue to seep to the surface.

Worsley, Western Australia

Nikon D7100, Sigma Art 24–105mm, 1/2000, f/5, ISO 250, handheld from Cessna 182 aircraŽft

INJURED SEA LION

AUSTRALIAN SEA LION, Neophoca cinerea

While diving on a temporary seal colony off Port Kembla, I noticed this badly injured male, most likely struck by a boat propeller. The glance he gave me was heartbreaking, as if to say, “Do you see what your peers have
done to me?”

Port Kembla, New South Wales

Nikon D500, Tokina 10–17mm fisheye, 1/200, f/8, ISO 200,
2x Inon Z240 Type 4 strobes

A HUNTER IN THE SHADOWS

CAT
Felis catus

A single domesticated cat allowed to roam freely is estimated to kill 75 animals annually. Although they may be affectionate pets, outdoors they are sly and efficient predators. I set up my camera, flashes and a motion sensor to capture the cats I discovered roaming around my unit.

Sunshine Coast, Queensland

Canon 700D, Tamron 10–24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC, 1/200, f/8,
ISO 400, 3x Nikon SB-28 flashes, Zomei M3 tripod, Camtraptions PIR Motion Sensor v2, Custom DSLR Housing, flash colour filter, Camtraptions transmitter and receivers

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK FOR ME

COMMON BRUSHTAIL POSSUM
Trichosurus vulpecula

This female brushtail possum – most likely killed by a car and
moved to the side of the road – was later discovered to have
a live joey in her pouch. Taken to a vet, the joey survived, but this shows the importance of always checking a dead marsupial’s pouch.

Prahran, Victoria

Nikon d750, Nikon 105mm f/2.8, 1/200, f/3.2, ISO 100, flash, handheld, manual exposure

THE WRECK OF THE PENGUINS

LITTLE PENGUIN
Eudyptula minor

Daniel Thomas from Massey University necropsies kororā from the 2017–18 die-off event, in which hundreds of birds washed up in the north of New Zealand. Most had succumbed to
starvation. Such wrecks are not a new phenomenon — in 1974 almost 4000 penguins were found on Northland beaches. Some scientists are concerned wrecks will become more common as seas warm.

Massey University, Auckland

Canon EOS 1D X MkII, Canon 16–35mm 2.8L II at 27
mm, 1/125, f/10, ISO 800

ONE MAN’S RUBBISH IS
ANOTHER CRITTER’S
CASTLE

PEACOCK MANTIS SHRIMP,
Odontodactylus scyllarus

Rubbish lying on the bottom of the ocean is not always a bad thing – it can make good habitat for marine life. Here, a tiny peacock mantis shrimp has made its home in a discarded soft drink can.

Lembeh Strait, North East Sulawesi, Indonesia

Canon EOS 7D MkII, Sigma 150mm f2.8 EX DG OS HSM APO macro, 1/250, f18, ISO
200, 2x Inon Z240 strobe flashes, handheld

FIELD OF WHITE

This photo of bleaching coral was taken on the Great Barrier Reef
during a period of high water temperatures. I returned to this reef every day for weeks, finding it paler with each visit. Following the event, scientists determined 50 per cent of corals across the Great Barrier Reef were lost in just two years.

Great Barrier Reef, Queensland

Nikon D300, Tokina 10–17mm fisheye, 1/100, f/9.0, Ikelite
strobes, Subal underwater housing

THE PEEKING POSSUM

COMMON BRUSHTAIL POSSUM
Trichosurus vulpecula

Many caravan parks around Australia are in country areas that holiday makers visit to relax and unwind. Wildlife is often very interested in the visitors to their area. Here, a brushtail possum looks down with interest on a family’s caravan that has been set up under the tree that it lives in.

Yallingup, Western Australia

Nikon D850, Nikkor 16–35mm f/4, 1/30, f/16, ISO 1600,
2x Nikon SB-700 flashes with Godox TTL wireless flash trigger,
Gitzo tripod, Sirui ball head and remote release cable

MONOGAMOUS

SHINGLEBACK SKINK
Tiliqua rugosa

A male shingleback skink defends its long-dead partner from oncoming traffic on the busy Eyre Peninsula highway. Shingleback skinks are one of
the only known monogamous reptile species on the planet and will often stay by their partner’s side for several days after death.

Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

Canon 5D MkIII, Tokina 11–16mm wide angle 2.8, 1/1000, f/7.1, ISO 160, handheld