Seal of approval for Wick photographer
A talented photographer based in Wick has made it to the finals of a major wildlife photography competition.
Ken Crossan was chosen as one of this year’s 44 finalists for the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (CWPA) 2020 with his hilarious image of a seal lolling about on a rock at Ackergill and appearing to be laughing out loud.
Ken said: "I took this image on Ackergill beach as part of a longer-term project recording the natural history of the Caithness coastline.
"The CWPA appear to have received a lot of publicity this year and, of course, the selected images are made in to a book each year. I had a grey seal in last year."
Ken says the picture is of a young common seal "chilling out" on a rock in Sinclair's Bay and remarks on how its thick layer of blubber seems to mould into the contours of the rock it lies upon.
"Looking as if it's enjoying a really good joke but the seal is, in fact, yawning," admits Ken.
The competition is now open for voting on the People’s Choice Award – with winners announced on October 22.
The competition judges are looking for images that combine the best technical excellence with the most amusing content and caption.
The CWPA works in partnership with the Born Free Foundation , an animal charity that campaigns to stop the exploitation and suffering of individual animals living in captivity or in the wild.
To vote for Ken's laughing seal or any of the other humorous animal photographs visit the CWPA page at www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2020_finalists.php
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