Although we love watching the spectacular images of various wildlife photography competitions, rarely do we wonder at the stories behind each photograph? One such heartbreaking seahorse photo incident reveals the story of Californian photographer Justin Hoffman and his experience during an expedition in Indonesia. Hoffman had entered one of his photos into the 2017 wildlife photographer of the year contest with a shot of a seahorse clutching onto a Q tip with its tail.
Justin Hoffman was leading an expedition in Indonesia in December 2016 when he came across the tiny creature. When he took the photograph and entered it in the competition, it made the finalist list but Hoffman told interviewers he wished he had never taken the photograph. Hoffman was in the vicinity of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Sumbawa, Indonesia. A colleague, in fact, had pointed out the Sea Horse which was just 1.5 inches long.
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Because of the strong wind, the creature had latched onto a piece of seagrass but soon larger pieces of sea debris and rubbish started moving through the grass. Hoffman and his crew could even smell the polluted toxic water clogged up with trash and pollution. The little creature could not hold onto the grass and let go. It ultimately latched itself onto a plastic bag before clinging onto the cotton bud.
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Hoffman said in an interview, that he wants to make the world aware of this tragedy which unfolded before his eyes. He said he felt it a responsibility to get this to as many eyes as possible. This was the reason why he entered the photograph in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition conducted by London’s Natural History Museum. His photograph invited several comments both of commendation of the photo and ager at the actual reality of the situation. Hoffman said "Some of them feel heartbroken, some of them feel frustrated, but this is good.”I want everybody to have a reaction to it,” he explained.
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Hoffman wants the world to understand how pollution is choking our planet and the entire wonderful little creature in it. A 2015 report revealed that 8 million tons of waste plastic finds its way into the ocean where Indonesia was the world’s worst offender in contributing to 10% of the world’s plastic waste The tragedy is that sea creatures keep mistaking such toxic substances as food. In fact, studies reveal that by 2050 plastic will outweigh fish in the world’s oceans and the scenario is much like a “death by plastic” for our marine life on the planet. Besides the seas around Indonesia, plastic particles have been observed in sea creatures across the world from those found on the seabed right up to those who live in the Arctic Circle. Justin Hoffman’s heartbreaking seahorse photo serves as a stark reminder of how irresponsible we can be as a race caring little for the future of our planet.
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