- A photographer has captured the “first-ever” underwater shots of a rare seal
- The Ross seal was photographed in Antarctica using a Sony A1
- The photographer Justin Hofman called it “a bittersweet encounter” due to climate change
Imagine this — it’s your fifteenth expedition in Antarctica and you’re snorkeling by the ice edge photographing krill, with a Sony A1 in hand, when you see an ultra-rare species enter the water close by.
This was the moment facing pro sealife photographer Justin Hofman recently as a Ross seal entered his view. It was only his second sighting of a Ross seal, and he knew that the species has never been photographed in its habitat underwater before.
I asked Justin about the encounter, specifically the story around getting the pictures you see in this article. After setting up for photographing krill, Justin said: “My camera setup was, on paper, the absolute worst thing you could use to photograph big animals.
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“If I was going to shoot seals or bigger animals I would generally have a wide-angle zoom on a dome port and hope to work very close to the animal to maximize impact and make the viewer feel like they’re in the water with the animal. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this to happen, let alone that I would shoot it with a 90mm macro!” he added.
There was also one non-technical factor that helped the stars align. Justin added: “The thing that saved me, and probably lead to a more natural behavior by the seal, was the early season super clear water. Since the plankton bloom hadn’t happened yet, the water was incredibly clear which allowed me to stay far enough away from the seal to not bother it, and allowed me to use the reach of a 90mm macro lens. It’s total dumb luck that the encounter happened but I’m so fortunate to be able to use the camera and the conditions to my advantage.”
“I was shooting with an external monitor as well, which allowed me to get the camera a little deeper, away from the surface, and have more precision with my composition,” he added.
These monitors are typically associated with shooting video, but they can be a godsend for tricky conditions like underwater shooting. “Some people think that external monitors are only for shooting video, but I always use a monitor on top of my housing,” Jason said. “I find that it allows me to get the camera into more interesting positions because I don’t have to worry about shooting through the viewfinder or struggle with the back LCD. It has been a game-changer to me,” he added.
Yet for such a memorable moment, it was also a “bittersweet encounter” for Justin.
A bittersweet encounter
Justin’s gear
Sony A1
Sony 90mm F2.8 GM Macro
Nauticam NA-1 housing
Nauticam macro flat port
FotoCore monitor
The Sony A1 was able to pick up the face and eye of the seal and track it across the frame, despite the slow focusing speeds of the 90mm macro, which is an old lens now and has since been updated with the five-star 100mm F2.8 Macro GM OSS.
By using smaller autofocus zones, the camera could prioritize and track the face of the seal, for off-center compositions.
Justin used a continuous high burst shooting mode to make the most of this chance encounter. He uses manual exposure mode because underwater metering is tricky, on account of the shifting/flickering light. He often uses strobes, but given the water was so clear, there was enough light to get these photos, without disturbing the seal.
And despite not being able to use his favored lens, I think you’ll agree that the resulting photos are stunning. However, Justin was keen to point out that “the only reason that I was able to get these photos is because of climate change impacts on sea ice.”
Image 1 of 8
There’s a wider story at play here. Justin told me: “2025 had one of the lowest levels ever recorded for sea ice formation in Antarctica, which allowed our expedition ship to venture much further south much earlier than ever before.
“On a ‘normal’ year, the Ross seal’s habitat is inaccessible because of the thickness and extent of the sea ice. But last season the ice levels were at an all-time low which meant we could access the refuges that Ross seals were using to complete their molting after the breeding season.
“So it’s a bit of a bittersweet encounter that wouldn’t have happened if the polar ecosystems weren’t in a state of drastic change. Antarctica is one of the fastest warming places on Earth and in my 16 years of working down there, I have seen a lot of changes that concern me.”
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