A photographer’s powerful image of an entangled gannet hanging from a cliff in Noss has been shortlisted for a conservation award. Rebecca Douglas took the photo in May during a trip on the Noss Boat to go snorkelling with diving gannets. During the journey, she witnessed the harrowing scene of the bird entangled in ghost fishing gear.
“I was so moved by the moment, that I promised the gannet that I’d do all I could to share its story,” she said. “It is my hope that we’re able to amplify this gannet’s story to drive change that the ocean so urgently needs.” The Ocean Photographer of the Year is described as a “celebration of our beautiful blue planet, as well as a platform to highlight the many plights it is facing.
” The competition features various categories, with Mrs Douglas’s having been short-listed in the” Conservation (Impact) Photographer of the Year” category. The 40-year-old photographer is from Ramsgate in Kent but she spends a lot of time in Scotland, where her husband grew up. In comments which accompany the image, Mrs Douglas states: “No words are needed to tell this gannet’s story – perhaps that’s what makes it so powerful.
“Its story ruptured something inside me when I saw the devastation. “The swell was high, the gannet was spiralling around and as the boat moved away and its profile came into view, “I captured this shot. My eyes followed the rope, revealing nests full of plastic.
“I wanted to make the bird’s life c.