Dugong Encounter

• Photographer
  Michele Hall
• Agency / Studio
  Howard Hall Productions
• Prize
  Honorable Mention in Nature / Underwater

I photographed this dugong on the island of Aban Aban Island, Bushuanga in the Philippines. Remoras have a symbiotic relationship with dugongs, using the sucking disks on the top of their heads to attach to the large sea animals. They clean dugongs' skin of parasites. But when I saw and photographed this one, he seemed to be trying to rid himself of the small fish. I was also able to photograph cinematographers Howard Hall and Jonathan Bird as they captured digital cinema footage of the 6-foot long herbivorous marine mammal, which is related to manatee.