A shrimp with red stripes and white dots shows up in the darkness.
A group of colorful fish swims peacefully between the underwater rocks.

These are both part of the award-winning photos in the Ulleungdo-Dokdo International Underwater Photography Competition 2016.

Photos and video clips of the underwater world around Dokdo are under the media spotlight these days, as they are revealing various new underwater ecosystems and related data about sea life around the island.

About 60 photographers from 12 countries, including 30 members of the World Confederation of Underwater Activities (CMAS), took part in the Ulleungdo-Dokdo International Underwater Photography Competition 2016, hosted by Ulleung-gun County from Oct. 13 to 15.





Competitors took pictures of nearby above-water spots around Dokdo and Ulleungdo islands, such as Haenyeo Rock, Elephant Rock, Mulsae Rock and the Gwaneumssang Cave. The photographers captured the beauty of the underwater world that surrounds Dokdo and Ulleungdo islands, Korea's two easternmost islands in the East Sea, all while displaying their photo abilities across four categories: close up, wide angle, wide angle with diver, and fish. A total of eight works were selected as award-winners in each of the two groups: Korean photographers and non-Korean photographers.

Director of Dokdo Policy Lee Kang-chang in the Gyeongsangbuk-do Province Office placed great value on the photo contest, saying, “It's very meaningful that world-class underwater photographers capture the scenic underwater beauty around Dokdo and Ulleungdo islands.”

“We'll consider producing a documentary and photography collection from this photo contest, and holding exhibits across the country so that we can promote the island with this event,” he said.





Apart from the photo competition, the National Institute of Biological Resources announced that it discovered Korea’s largest colony of endangered coral, and published photos and a video of the colony of stony cup coral, Dendrophyllia cribrosa, on Oct. 24, a species known for only inhabiting particularly clean waters.

This latest discovery was made during research into underwater diversity around Dokdo conducted by the National Institute of Biological Resources from June 21 to 24 this year.

These marine animals are of a coral species that has orange tentacles and which creates an orange-colored colony. It lives on rocks between 20 meters and 30 meters underwater, and can be partially found in some regions of the East Sea and the South Sea.

This colony was discovered on rocks about 25 meters underwater just to the west of Seodo, the western part of Dokdo Island. It's about 4 meters wide and about 3 meters high, the largest single coral colony of that species ever found in Korea. In the past, the largest colony of that type of coral was smaller than one meter in both width and height, found in the Daedohae National Marine Park in 2013.






According to the biological research institute, this coral species inhabits one area permanently and doesn't migrate or shift, allowing it to be used as an important indicator of ecological changes in the waters around Dokdo Island.

So far, there have been records of a total of 20 endangered species inhabiting Dokdo or the waters around it. These include two invertebrate animals like this coral, 16 winged animals, such as hawks, and two mammals, such as seals.

President Baek Woonsuk of the National Institute of Biological Resources highlighted this latest discovery, saying, “This latest discovery proves once again that Dokdo is an important habitat for a wide range of life forms, including endangered species.”

You can see some of the underwater footage here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN9qyUzfZQA

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ulleung-gun County Office, National Institute of Biological Resources
arete@korea.kr