Wildlife photos from around the world dazzle in competition

Ecology photo competition showcases wild cuttlefish, birds and science A damsel fly peeking out of a window in a leaf has taken out the top prize in an ecology journal's annual photo competition. Other images highlighted in the competition featured frogs, fish, birds, and ecologists hard at work — often in uncomfortable conditions. The BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition is open to researchers in ecology, evolutionary biology, palaeontology and zoology from around the world. This year, the winning entry came from Sritam Kumar Sethy, a student at Berhampur University in India, while Australian researchers and wildlife snagged awards in several categories. Mr Kumar Sethy's photo (above) showed an orange-tailed marsh dart damsel fly (Ceriagrion cerinorubellum) in a wetland in the Indian state of Odisha. This image of manatees by Brandon Güellwas highly commended. Relationships in nature Victor Huertas Martin, a marine biologist at James Cook University, won the Relationship category with a photo of duelling giant cuttlefish (Ascarosepion apama) in the Spencer Gulf. He snapped a moment from the cuttlefish's famous annual breeding season, when tens of thousands of colour-changing fish gather in the shallow waters around Whyalla and squabble for mates. Dr Huertas, who studies tropical fish, said he made the trip down to the cold South Australian waters out of interest. "I was absolutely blown away by what I saw there," he said. "The only thing that got me out of the water was the temperature." Dr Huertas said the giant cuttlefish were less shy than the tropical reef fish he was used to observing. "They didn't seem to be bothered with my presence at all," he said. "When they're busy mating, there's only one thing in mind, and they don't care about anything else." Dr Huertas's trip was in 2023. This year, the waters around Whyalla have been eerily silent, with experts fearing the algal bloom has caused a crash in the cuttlefish population. "I'm not only concerned about this population, but also the ramifications for the entire ecosystem," Dr Huertas said. Dr Huertas said we do not yet know the extent of the damage to the cuttlefish population, or whether it will recover in the coming years. "We're all holding our breath and hoping for the best." Alwin Hardenbol, a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, came runner-up in the category with a shot from Mulligans Flat in the ACT. Dr Hardenbol, who studies forestry, said he was walking in the reserve "simply as a tourist" when he saw a showdown between a brown goshawk (Tachyspiza fasciata) and two noisy friarbirds (Philemon corniculatus). The friarbirds were "mobbing" the predator: harassing, swooping and calling to discourage it and alert other birds in the area. "Taking on a raptor as a much smaller bird must take quite some courage," Dr Hardenbol said. While Dr Hardenbol has spent decades photographing nature, he said this shot was something of a lucky moment. "But spending time in nature will often reward you like that." Protecting our planet The winning image in the Protecting Our Planet category displayed a road linking islands along the St Lawrence Seaway, which connects North America's Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The islands, which were made when a dam flooded the surrounding region in the 1950s, are now a bird sanctuary where photographer Allen Tian was conducting DNA research. The runner-up photo in the category came from India's west coast, where locals have been helping olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings (Lepidochelys olivacea) make it safely into the ocean as part of a community-led conservation effort. Research in action The competition's overall runner-up showed a rainy night with students Alyson Yates and Ally Rounds attaching a radio transmitter to a northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora) to learn about its movements. Meanwhile, the Research In Action category winner depicted another dark, wet night, with undergraduate students sorting through a beach seine net sampling the coastal waters of New Brunswick, Canada. Luke Jeffrey, a research fellow at Southern Cross University, was highly commended overall for his picture of himself in a Northern Territory melaleuca wetland. Dr Jeffrey investigates microbes in tree bark, which can play a key role in greenhouse gas recycling. Wildlife scientist Vineet Kumar's photo of a Himalayan cave was also highly commended overall. Dr Kumar and a team of researchers from the Zoological Survey of India were in the area searching for an endangered Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus). The team, which researches interactions between bears and humans, was surprised to find the bearless cave had been used by nomadic shepherds grazing sheep. An image of field technicians sampling wildlife in the Everglades was runner-up in the research in action category. A full explanation of each image and the judgements has been published in a journal editorial.