Mischievous seal in award-winning photo ‘had put seaweed on head’

A “mischievous” seal pictured in an award-winning wildlife photograph had earlier put a strand of seaweed over its head in an attempt to play, a London-based photographer has revealed.

David Alpert, whose portrait The Curious Seal won two awards at the Underwater Photographer of the Year Awards, captured the image off Lundy Island in Devon in summer 2024.

Mr Alpert, who is originally from Cape Town in South Africa, said he had dived with seals around the world but the Lundy Island grey seals were “much more interactive” than seals elsewhere.

He said some of the seals liked “coming up behind you and mischievously nibbling on your fins”.

He added that the seal in his photo had earlier “put a piece of seaweed on its head, like it had been briefed on how to look cute in a photograph”.

Mr Alpert took the photo during a two-month spell exploring different locations off the north Devon coast.

He said the visibility was “absolutely crystal clear” on the day he took the winning photo, making the image “a little bit different”.

It picked up the prize for British Underwater Photographer of the Year at the awards, as well as winning the British Waters Wide Angle category.

Competition judge Tobias Friedrich said the contest was often flooded with seal photos, making it hard for them to stand out, but Aplert’s “excellent” image was “truly a stunner”.

Mr Friedrich said the photo was “so well framed in the sea weeds and with the light coming from the back in the shallow waters” and was “completed by the curious look of the seal”.