It's a colourful creature that usually hides away underwater, but an image of the bright yellow and blue sea slug at the Poor Knights Marine Reserve quickly became an internet sensation and earned photographer and PhD student Rachel Boschen the accolades of her colleagues at NIWA.
Ms Boschen - originally from the UK but doing a joint NIWA/Victoria University scholarship PhD in deep sea ecology - has won the people's choice award in NIWA's annual photography competition for its staff.
The competition is open to NIWA's 600-plus staff and there was some stiff opposition, with plenty of outstanding photographs in five categories, with all entries going into the people's choice award on NIWA's website and Facebook page.
NIWA senior media adviser Susan Pepperell said once Ms Boschen's image of a rare and colourful sea slug from the Poor Knights Marine Reserve went up it became an internet sensation during the public voting.
The colourful nudibranch, scientific name Tambja verconis, is the sea slug Ms Boschen photographed while on a diving expedition in April this year.