Snapper for a snack ... and a snap

A powerful Eagle Ray enjoying a feed of snapper, on Moturua Island, Bay of Islands. Picture / Kurt Brunton

It isn't easy to get an eagle ray to stick around for a photo, but Kurt Brunton found a free meal was all it took.

Mr Brunton, a sales account manager, said he was with three friends on their annual fishing trip in the Bay of Islands at the weekend when they spotted about four ray swimming beneath the boat. He threw in a snapper he had caught to lure a ray into a photo for the Herald's summer holiday competition.

"Snapper are pretty plentiful in the Bay of Islands so it's good to share them around. The ray circled around it, then came through and snapped it up. I was the only one game enough to swim down to the rays to get a close-up photo, so in I jumped."

He reckoned he was about 1.5m away from the ray when the photo was taken.

"I've dived for a while, so I'm pretty used to seeing them. It didn't worry me. I think they got a bit scared, with us being that close though."

Judging from its body language, the ray, which had an estimated 1.2m span, was not quite as relaxed as Mr Brunton. It got a free meal but standing on its fins is a sign it is ready for a quick take off.

Herald deputy photo editor Rachel Ward said the photo underlined the wide variety of subject matter among the 3000-plus entries for the competition.

"It is a unique moment and one of the more unusual photos in the competition, because it is something you wouldn't often be there to see in the ocean. The quality is excellent. The photo is clear and the water is clear."

Mr Brunton used a loaned camera housed in a Canon AW-DC30 All Weather Case, which is rated to 3m depth. Mr Brunton dived a bit deeper than that depth - to between 4m and 5m - to take the photograph.