“Take us with you!” was the call to NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast biologists, engineers, stream surveyors, and other staff to submit their shots for the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region photo and video contest. Our staff go places few ever do—from the high seas to the high sierras—and we asked them to submit photographs and short videos that “show how we accomplish our mission in ways words cannot. ”
Staff at our Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers and our West Coast Region submitted 105 stunning photos and six videos, transporting us into the field and sharing their passion for managing, conserving, and protecting living marine resources.
Three professional photographers, Kyle McBurnie, Sam Wells, and Oriana Poindexter, judged the photos for exposure, composition, and the story each one told.
The entries were considered in six different categories: fishing and fisheries, species, science & technology, habitat, NOAA Fisheries at work, and 30-second videos. All contest photos are available in our NOAA Fisheries West Coast Flickr album for viewing and downloading, along with comments from the judges.
Congratulations to our winners, and a special thanks to all who participated and to our distinguished panel of judges.
Best In Show
Benjamin Sandford — Electro-fishing team sampling juvenile Chinook salmon in Camas Creek, Idaho.
Judges’ comments: “A pleasing composition of a beautiful river and the science well displayed.” "I want to be on that river!"
Category Winners
Category Winner: Fishing & Fisheries
Larry Ward — Elwha nearshore monitoring beach seine.
Judge’s comment: “Balanced composition, serene location and some science!”
Category Winner: Species
Jeff Bash — Pacific Hake collected during 2017 Winter Hake Survey.
Judge’s comment: “A great composition that shows the species and the science.”
Category Winner: Science & Technology
Bernardo Alps — Water sampling at Cross Seamount for beaked Whale eDNA, genetic samples collected from the environment.
Judge’s comment: “Great perspective through the porthole, really elevates the scene.”
Category Winner: Habitat
Bernardo Alps — Lava flow from Kilauea Volcano reaches the ocean off Hawaii. Instantly cooled lava creates a vapor column at Kamokuna, Hawaii.
Judge’s comment: “Impressive capture of the power of nature.”
Category Winner: NOAA Fisheries at Work
Matthew Nesbit — Mobile tracking radio-tagged juvenile Sockeye in Redfish Lake, Idaho.
Category Winner: 30 Second Videos
Blane Bellerud — Video: Salmon spawning in Eagle Creek.
Judge’s comment: “Well paced with good music, and a great capture of behavior!”
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mention: Fishing & Fisheries
Kristine Lesyna — Tag training workshop for green sturgeon post-release survival cooperative research study.
Judge’s comment: “Cool to see a sturgeon with tag, and the people involved.”
Honorable Mention: Fishing & Fisheries
Maria Rea — Child fishing in the upper Sacramento River.
Judge’s comment: “Beautiful color and composition, with points for cuteness!”
Honorable Mention: Species
John Pohl — Pacific white-sided dolphins riding the bow wave of the NOAA research ship Bell M. Shimada.
Honorable Mention: Species
Bernardo Alps — Red-footed booby captures flying fish.
Judge’s comment: “Impressive capture and excellent image quality.”
Honorable Mention: Species
Dan Cheng — Lob tailing by a humpback whale.
Judge’s comment: “Best Whale in Show!”
Honorable Mention: Species
Bernardo Alps — A flying squid flushes as the NOAA research ship Reuben Lasker approaches.
Judge’s comment: “We (the judges) learned about the existence of flying squid through this image, and we're impressed.”
Honorable Mention: Species
Michael Force — Red-footed booby saluting flag aboard NOAA research ship Reuben Lasker during NOAA Fisheries’ Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey off Hawaii.
Judge’s comment: “Well-timed capture with points for humor.”
Honorable Mention: Species
Bill Lind — Perched white-crowned sparrow.
Judge’s comment: “Best Bird in Show, technically excellent photograph.”
Honorable Mention: Science & Technology
Kevin Stockmann — Green sturgeon that has been satellite tagged to examine post-release survival in the California halibut fishery.
Honorable Mention: Habitat
Janet Curran — Puget Sound Pot-o-Gold, the NOAA Fisheries Mukilteo Field Station.
Honorable Mention: NOAA Fisheries at Work
Bernardo Alps — A Drifting Acoustic SPAR Buoy Recorder is retrieved aboard the NOAA research ship Reuben Lasker.
Honorable Mention: NOAA Fisheries at Work
Joel Schumacher — In-water capture of a Pacific Leatherback off Half Moon Bay, California. Southwest Fisheries Science Center scientists prepare to drop a net in front of a surfacing leatherback.
Honorable Mention: NOAA Fisheries at Work
John Douglass — Tracking VHF radio-tagged leatherback. The NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Leatherback research team homes in on a previously tagged turtle to recover behavioral video data.
Honorable Mention: 30 second video
Mark Capelli — Video: Endangered Southern California Steelhead spawning with a native Rainbow trout in Maria Ygnacio Creek in Santa Barbara County.
Judge’s comment: “Interesting behavior recorded in a clear manner.”
