ANGRY TURTLE WINS COMEDY WILDLIFE PHOTO PRIZE

Terry the Grumpy Turtle Wins 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Terry the green turtle gained worldwide notoriety for being a bit tetchy in the presence of photographers (Photo: Mark Fitzpatrick/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2020)

DIVE Report

Terry the grumpy turtle has won the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, beating a photobombing giraffe, singing ground squirrel and a comedy parrotfish to top spot.

The picture of a green turtle ‘flipping the bird’ was captured by Mark Fitzpatrick while he was swimming off Lady Elliot Island in Queensland, Australia. Fitzpatrick’s image emerged as a clear favourite of the judges from the 7,000 entries that were submitted to this year’s competition.

‘I’m stoked and honoured to be awarded the Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year for 2020,’ said Fitzpatrick. ‘It’s been amazing to see the reaction to my photo of Terry the turtle flipping the bird, with Terry giving people a laugh in what has been a difficult year for many.’

Fitzpatrick’s first place picture has won him a safari from Alex Walker’s Serian in Kenya’s Masai Mara, a unique handmade trophy from the Wonder Workshop in Tanzania, a photography bag from Think Tank, and a brand new Nikon camera. Fitzpatrick also hopes that his winning entry will help to spread an important conservation message.

This picture of ‘Smiley’ the parrotfish was recognised as Highly Commended by the judges. (Photo: Arturo Telle Thiemann/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2020)

‘Hopefully Terry the turtle can encourage more people to take a moment and think about how much our incredible wildlife depends on us and what we can do to help them,’ said Fitzpatrick. ‘Flippers crossed that this award puts Terry in a better mood the next time I see him at Lady Elliot Island!’

Terry  is the first underwater picture to win the Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in the competition’s history. A second underwater picture of a comedy parrotfish by Arturo Telle Thiemann was recognised as Highly Commended.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, founded by professional photographers and conservationists Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, is a global, online and free-to-enter photography competition showcasing humorous images of the earth’s wildlife. In addition to providing some light-hearted relief, the competition aims to ‘highlight the extremely important message of wildlife conservation in an engaging and positive way’, and is partnered with global conservation charity The Born Free Foundation.

For more information and to view the complete list of winners, or to order prints of winning competition entries, head to www.comedywildlifephoto.com