Solitary

That morning in South Ari Atoll, the lagoon was alive.

Large upwellings had brought plankton towards the surface, attracting six reef manta rays into the shallows to feed. For a while, the water was full of movement - mantas circling, turning and following the richest patches of food.

Then one of them broke away.

From above, the scene suddenly became incredibly simple. A single manta moved through an expanse of blue, separated from the rest of the group and surrounded by nothing but water.

It was a completely different feeling from the feeding frenzy only moments before. Quiet, minimal and almost weightless.

Solitary is one of those photographs where the space around the animal became just as important as the subject itself - a brief moment of stillness within a much larger encounter.