Spanish photographer Alvaro Herrero won an international award in the Best Underwater Photographer of the Year 2023 competition, for a photo entitled “hopelessA giant whale underwater, as a humpback whale can be seen “dying a slow and painful death” after its tail is entangled with a block of rope and a buoy.

The Spanish photographer confirmed that the things stuck in his tail made the tail useless, and continued: “The situation is not only a reflection of what our oceans suffer from, but also our planet, and it represents a sad story of the slow and painful death that we cause to our planet and our oceans, as a result of selfishness and irresponsibility.” According to the site CNN Arabic.

Photographer: The picture hurts me

The photographer revealed that seeing this scene was painful for him, especially after spending a lot of time with these mammals in their environment, interacting with them, and knowing how sensitive and intelligent they are. Won in the marine environment protection category for an organization Save Our Seas Foundation.

Herero works as a cave photographer now

He said, “I am very happy to document this moment to show the consequences of human activities and their effects on these creatures.” Herrero began exploring photography when he was eight years old using an old camera belonging to his father, then he practiced diving for more than 15 years, with his work as a full-time underwater photographer. For 8 years, he now works in Mexico as a cave photographer in nature.