R Closeup winner and BIUPC Champion 2025, Kirsty Andrews
Q Wide-angle winner, Kirsty Andrews
Q Mankind’ s Impact on the Environment winner, Dan Bolt
Kirsty wins again
SCUBA COLUMNIST KIRSTY ANDREWS HAS BEEN crowned winner in the 2025 British & Irish Underwater Photography Championship – her second championship win in a row.
Forty-one competitors braved poor weather to submit 91 images in the annual British Society of Underwater Photographers’ on-the-day splash-in competition. The competition is open to all and asks competitors to take, process and submit images from anywhere in UK and Irish waters in the space of only 24 hours.
This year’ s category winners were Dan Bolt( Mankind’ s Impact on the Environment), Kirsty Andrews( Close-Up) and Kirsty Andrews( Wide-Angle).
Kirsty almost made a clean sweep, with a highlycommended award in the third category, mankind’ s impact on the environment. Her competition efforts, however, were rewarded as she also scooped the overall Championship, with her close-up image of an octopus in Porthkerris garnering her the Peter Scoones Trophy.
Organiser and chair of the judges Paul Colley said that he had been impressed by the variety of images submitted for the 2025 competition. He added that the date for next year’ s British & Irish Underwater Photography Championship had now been announced, with the 2026 contest to be held on 22 August.
In the meantime, all the 2025 winning and shortlisted images can be viewed at www. bsoup. org. uk / competitions / biupc-awards-2025
the ocean, and how it influences us, in order to support positive action and sustainable practices. The Y Môr a Ni initiative is the first Ocean Literacy strategy in Europe.
Reece Halstead, Ocean Literacy Coordinator for Wales, said he was thrilled that BSAC had joined the Y Môr a Ni and the Welsh Ocean Literacy Coalition.
“ Our seas and coasts can seem like a distant world for many people, so it’ s great to join forces with BSAC to allow even more communities across Wales to explore our precious marine environment through diving, snorkelling and activities along the coast.
“ The more that people can safely experience our seas, the more likely they are to care and to help protect them for generations to come.”
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