Congratulations to 2024 Overall Winner, Scott Portelli
A stunning drone image of two humpback whales ‘bubble-net feeding’ has scooped the top prize in the 2024 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition at the South Australian Museum. The winning shot, Bubble-net, was captured by Western Australian photographer and tour operator Scott Portelli as part of a sailing expedition to Antarctica last year.
Bubble-net feeding is a cooperative hunting strategy used by humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). As the whales surround a school of small fish, they make a team effort to disorient and corral the fish into a ‘net’ of bubbles. One whale will sound a call, at which point they’ll all swim up, with opened mouths, to feed on the trapped fish.
Portelli was on a small 60-foot yacht when he took the winning image. “There was one day where the weather was shifting between overcast and snowing. I sat and watched these whales bubble-netting for about six hours, but trying to capture that moment when they break the surface came down to persistence and timing.”
It’s widely believed that the whales developed this feeding method after they were hunted to near extinction, allowing as many of them as possible to feed in a short time.
As the overall winner, Portelli receives a cash prize of $10,000 and a holiday prize generously provided by Coral Expeditions. This is second time lucky for Portelli, who also won the competition in 2021 with an image of the elusive leafy sea dragon taken at South Australia’s Second Valley.
The South Australian Museum announced the overall and category winners on Thursday 29 August 2024. The resulting exhibition will run from 31 August 2024 - 5 January 2025.