Mauro Barberis, Musketeers (SINGLE SHOT 2023)

Image captured at Pa'ea, a current heavy bay in Tahiti, French Polynesia. The Musketeers were a trio of german shepherds that simply did not allow me do freedive solo in Tahiti. I went out looking for Humpback Whales from a local private beach with my camera and freedive gear on a particularly current heavy morning. The lagoon pours large amounts of water into the bay at all times, making Pa'ea a particularly difficult place to dive, but there was a mother and its calf resting out past the break, and I wanted to get that shot. The 3 german shepherds belonged to a neighbor that had access to the private beach, and they'd always play with me at the beach. But that morning they decided to follow me constantly into the bay, as if I'd be D'Artagnan heading into the fray. They would swim out into the currents, where it was at least 15 metres deep, and kept me company. I came back to the beach multiple times fearing they would drown, but they demonstrated to have stunning swimming and diving skills. So at one point I realized they were far more interesting than my original target, and decided to take pictures of them instead.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.