2010
Gentoo Penguin and Elephant Seal Face-off
Glenn Ehmke
Elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are not a direct threat to gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) – unlike sea lions or leopard seals, they don’t prey on them. Nonetheless, penguins can get understandably surly when a seal weighing several hundred kilograms decides to move through a creche of vulnerable chicks. This pair was photographed on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.
2011
Grey-headed Flying Fox Drinking Behaviour
Ofer Levy
Grey-headed flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus) drink in a unique way. They swoop low, skimming the water with their belly. They then lick their wet fur as they fly and continue licking when perched nearby. Such behaviour usually occurs at dusk and night but when the temperature reaches 35°C and above, they will also drink during the day. In order to get this image I stood in chest-deep water at Parramatta Park in New South Wales with the camera and lens mounted on a tripod.
2012
Squid School
Wayne Osborn
A squid school feeds mid-water at Fiabacet Reef, Raja Ampat, Indonesia. The Raja Ampat archipelago is recognised as the most bio-diverse marine region on the planet.
2013
Near Miss
David Rennie
The young osprey was learning to fish, and this was her sixth try one morning. She came out of the water and looked back at her talons to see why she was missing her prey. Just at that moment the spoonbill was coming in to land. They were on a collision course, and the expressions on their faces said: 'oh sh-t!' They put their wings up as parachutes, the osprey went to the left, the spoonbill the other way, and disaster was averted.
2014
Physalia Physalis
Matty Smith
Despite its potentially dangerous sting, the bluebottle zooid is an amazingly beautiful creature. I wanted to demonstrate this with careful lighting and composition. On this particular morning a whole armada of them had been blown into this little bay where they were trapped overnight, enabling me to get my shot.
2015
Feathered Symmetry
David Stowe
I was watching this white-winged tern (Chlidonias leucopterus) amongst a little tern colony when it stretched its wings ready for take-off. I simply cropped the image fairly tightly to focus on the wonderful symmetry and graphic simplicity of the feather structure against the blue of the lake.
2016
Piercing Headache
Matthew McIntosh
Several male orange-eyed tree frogs were pronouncing their prowess around an old water-filled car tyre, attempting to attract females. Some of these frogs enticed the wrong kind, attracting bloodthirsty female mosquitoes in search of a meal crucial for future egg development.
2017
Predatory Pursuit
Justin Gilligan
This unusual encounter features an aggregation of spider crabs (Leptomithrax gaimardii) and a predatory Maori octopus (Octopus maorum). The octopus was behaving like an excited child in a candy store trying to work out which crab to catch and consume – its eyes were certainly bigger than its gut!
2018
Hide and Seek
Tracey Jennings
I travelled to Raja Ampat mainly to visit the stunning Arborek Jetty. If you are really lucky you can observe schools of fish and I spent some time under the jetty. At one point, predators moved in and I was mesmerised by the chase between predator and prey.
2019
Fin Whale’s Demise
Mat Beetson
The fin whale is sighted regularly in this region; seeing one beached, however, is rare. The whale sits less than 5 metres from shore and 100 metres from residential homes, giving whale researchers access to an unusual occurrence for this species. Bronze whalers and great whites feasted over the remains before removal.