420 Dive Log Australasia OCTOBER 2026

The Nautilus Scuba Club Cairns

2026 Underwater

Highly Commended David George, Libby

Photography Competition Winners were announced at the Awards Night in July. This annual competition is open to financial club members, and this year was judged by underwater photographers Anita Verde, Jake Wilton and Vanessa Mignon. There were several open categories as well as specific categories for compact, dSLR/mirrorless and smartphone/action cameras, and a video category. All images submitted must have been taken in the last two years, with photographers submitting up to three images per category. There was also a special “Beauty of the Great Barrier Reef” category, sponsored by Mike Ball Dive Expeditions. 399 photos were entered across 9 photo categories, with 10 entries in the video category. Entries were captured in 15 different countries, but with almost half of all photos taken right here in Queensland. Full results, and a gallery of all the entries, can be found via the Club’s online gallery at admin.nautilus-scuba.net/photocomp/gallery or on the Club’s website at www.nautilus-scuba.net. The competition is generously sponsored by some of the biggest names in the Australian scuba diving industry, as well as many local Cairns businesses. Some big prizes were on offer again, including stays at overseas dive resorts and trips on premium liveaboards on the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns. How the competition was scored For 2026 the competition moved to a points system. In each category the judges awarded a Winner (5 points), a Runner-up (3 points) and Highly Commended (1 point). Points were then summed across every category to give each entrant an overall competition ranking, and prizes were awarded according to that ranking and each entrant’s pre-declared prize preferences. In all, 17 entrants were awarded points. Category results Category Place Photographer(s) Smartphone Ist Lidia del Pozo Ramos Runner-up Lidia del Pozo Ramos Highly Commended Peter Schleifer, Lidia Compact Wide Angle Winner Alejandro Navarro Otero Runner-up Alejandro Navarro Otero Highly Commended Cameron Shields, Glenn Abbot, Alejandro Navarro Otero Compact Macro Winner Glenn Abbot Runner-up Alejandro Navarro Otero Highly Commended Kirsty Whitman, G. Abbot dSLR / Mirrorless Wide Angle Winner Kevin Coombs Runner-up David George Highly Commended David George, Libby Sterling, Phil Woodhead dSLR / Mirrorless Macro 1st Alexander Gorham Runner-up Alexander Gorham Highly Commended John Ditria, Phil Woodhead, Rhett Milbourne Behaviour Winner Alexander Gorham Runner-up Glenn Abbot

Sterling, Kevin Coombs Portrait Winner Alexander Gorham

Runner-up Kevin Coombs Highly Commended Glenn Abbot, Glenn Abbot,

Alexander Gorham Black & White Winner Glenn Abbot Runner-up Rhett Milbourne

Highly Commended Mignon Prinsloo, Libby Sterling

Video Winner Libby Sterling

Runner-up Alejandro Navarro Otero Highly Commended David George, Jan Pope Beauty of the Great Barrier Reef 1 st Libby Sterling Runner-up Glenn Abbot Highly Commended Alejandro Navarro Otero, Glenn Abbot, Cathie Cummins Members’ Choice Winner Richard Banks Runner-up Alexander Gorham Highly Commended Glenn Abbot, Kevin Coombs Encouragement Award Winner Kirby Abbot Overall competition ranking Adding the points from every category together produced the following overall ranking : lace EntrantTotal points Wins Runner-up Highly Commended Major Prize 1 Alexander Gorham 22 3 2 1 Walindi Plantation Resort PNG 2 Glenn Abbot 22 2 2 6 Buceo Anilao Resort Philippines 3 Alejandro Navarro Otero 16 1 3 2 Lissenung Island Resort PNG 4 Libby Sterling 13 2 - 3 Mike Ball 5-Night trip 5 Kevin Coombs 10 1 1 2 Passions of Paradise - day trip for 2 6 Lidia del Pozo Ramos 9 1 1 1 Divers Den OceanQuest 3-day trip 7 David George 6 - 1 3 Pro Dive Cairns 3-day trip 8 Richard Banks 5 1 - - Diveplanit travel voucher 9 Rhett Milbourne4 - 1 1 Allways Dive Expeditions travel voucher 10 Phil Woodhead 2 - - 2 Sundive Julian Rocks day trip for 1 About Nautilus Scuba Club Nautilus Scuba Club was established over 40 years ago to support the local dive community and promote diving in Far North Queensland. The Club currently has around 400 members, making it one of the largest recreational scuba clubs in Australia. The club has a busy schedule with monthly meetings (with guest speakers), social nights and a monthly dive day-trip with one of the local dive operators. The Club also organises local multi-day trips and several overseas trips a year to destinations near and far.

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Dive Log Australasia #420 OCT ‘26

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