A moment of national pride has emerged from beneath the waves: A photograph taken by Dr. Tom Shlesinger, a marine ecologist, coral reef researcher and underwater nature photographer, has been selected as one of the 20 most iconic images in the history of the prestigious World Shootout underwater photography competition.
The image was chosen from tens of thousands of photographs submitted over the competition’s 20-year history.
The photograph, titled “Goliath in Lilliput,” shows an enormous Atlantic goliath grouper moving through the waters off Florida’s Atlantic coast. The fish can reach about 2.5 meters in length and weigh up to 360 kilograms, and can live for decades. Its population was once severely harmed by overfishing, but strict conservation laws, which made it a protected species, have helped it begin to recover.
“While trying to find an interesting composition for this large fish, I got lucky on one dive: huge schools of tiny fish surrounded it and moved restlessly around it,” Shlesinger says. “It reminded me of a moment in ‘Gulliver’s Travels,’ when Gulliver arrives in Lilliput and walks carefully so he does not step on the tiny islanders.”
“I watched, fascinated, as this large fish swam calmly through the enormous school of small fish, which looked like a swirling tunnel of fish, and I immediately knew this was the perfect moment to capture a unique perspective,” he adds. “I used a long exposure, which slightly blurs everything that moves and creates a sense of motion and depth, producing the perfect image of the gentle marine giant emerging from the school of tiny fish.”
Alongside his main scientific work as a researcher at Tel Aviv University’s School of Zoology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, and at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat, photography is an inseparable part of Shlesinger’s life and worldview. For him, it is a tool for expression, documentation, discovery and making the underwater world accessible.
Shlesinger grew up on the shores of the Red Sea. Since his first dive at a young age, he has been captivated by the vibrant life below the surface and by the behaviors, colors and forms of corals and reef dwellers.
His scientific work focuses on reproductive processes and biodiversity in coral reefs. At the same time, he uses the camera as a tool for documentation, research and creation. Often, photography serves as his “field diary,” precisely recording rare moments he encounters during long hours underwater.
His photographs, which combine aesthetic sensitivity with scientific depth, have been published in books, magazines and scientific journals, displayed in galleries, museums and exhibitions, and won awards and recognition in Israel and around the world.
“For me, nature photography is a way to expose the magic, complexity and vulnerability of underwater life to the general public, an audience that sometimes is not exposed to these worlds and to the dangers threatening them,” Shlesinger says.
Over the years, Shlesinger has won numerous prestigious awards and achievements at international photography events for his striking documentation of night life and coral reproduction in the Gulf of Eilat.
Recently, he won first place in the coral reefs category of Underwater Photographer of the Year, one of the world’s most prestigious and best-known underwater photography competitions. In Ocean Art, a major international underwater photography contest considered one of the most respected in the field, he won third place in the marine animal behavior category for a rare photograph of coral reproduction at Eilat’s Coral Beach Nature Reserve.
Shlesinger also won first place and a prestigious award in a competition held by the Ocean Geographic Society, an international organization dedicated to the research, conservation and documentation of ocean environments and marine nature. His winning photograph documented a nighttime coral reproduction event in the Gulf of Eilat, a phenomenon that occurs only one or two nights a year.
He also received an honorable mention in the environmental photography competition of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for his photograph “Underwater Fireworks.”
According to Shlesinger, this is part of a long-term documentary and scientific project in which he has devoted hundreds of nights to documenting the secret world of Red Sea coral reefs after dark.
“This is not only beautiful photography,” he says, “but a research effort to discover and build a scientific calendar of the reproductive seasons of corals and other reef dwellers.”
His achievements over the years have placed Eilat and Israeli marine research on the international photography and science map, while reminding the world of the unique biological richness of Red Sea coral reefs and the importance of protecting them for future generations.
For Israelis, the competition in which Shlesinger is now taking part is closely tied to home. World Shootout began in Eilat in 2005. At the time, it was a unique live competition: photographers from around the world came to Eilat for five intensive days of shooting, judging was conducted on site, and winners went home with cash prizes, with the top award standing at $10,000.
A decade later, the competition expanded into a broader international format. Participants began submitting images from dives anywhere in the world throughout the year, across a range of categories. Since then, photographers from more than 50 countries have taken part.
Voting is open to anyone with an active Facebook account from June 1 until June 30 at 1 p.m. Israel time. The five images that receive the highest number of likes by the end of the month will be named winners. To vote for Shlesinger’s photograph, users must enter the official voting album or the photo page and like the image.
The five audience-choice finalists will receive the title “Iconic Image” and a new Mares QUAD Ci dive computer. The overall winner selected from the five will receive a cash prize of 5,000 euros.
“This is much more than a competition. It is a celebration of 20 years of underwater art, passion and exploration,” says David Pilosof, founder of World Shootout.