Marathon resident Daniel Eidsmoe will sacrifice for his artwork, even when it means a 3 a.m. hike alongside Coco Plum Seaside — and 70 mosquito bites — to seize the correct angle of the Milky Means over the Florida Keys’ backcountry. Eidsmoe’s efforts paid off when his long-exposure picture captured first place within the “recreation” class of an annual photograph contest sponsored by the Workplace of Nationwide Marine Sanctuaries.
Eidsmoe additionally received second-place honors within the “at-home” class for a drone photograph of his spouse flying a kite over a sandbar.

Gabriel Jensen additionally received first-place honors within the “life” class for his excessive close-up photograph of an arrow crab posed in entrance of a sea urchin.
A self-described “magnification maniac” who calls underwater pictures one of the best pastime on the planet, Jensen scuba dives from land in nearshore waters in search of particulars most would cross over.
The Fort Lauderdale-based chemist recurrently visits the Keys searching for off-the-path places.

Jensen was virtually onshore, swimming alongside the seawall of an deserted marina within the Higher Keys the day he nabbed the award-winning photograph. The vertical strains of the crab set in opposition to the vertical strains of the urchin created an fascinating composition, or so stated his spouse, who works on the Coral Restoration Basis.
The Workplace of Nationwide Marine Sanctuaries will function the photographs within the subsequent version of its Earth is Blue social media marketing campaign. For extra, go to sanctuaries.noaa.gov.