Source: BBC
The organizers of the Mangrove Photography Awards have unveiled this year’s winning images, and the top spot went to Indian photographer Soham Bhattacharyya for his arresting image of a young Royal Bengal tigress staring out from the mangroves in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, which is located in the vast Ganges delta. The competition, now in its ninth year, “celebrates the beauty, diversity and fragility of our mangrove forests around the world.”
There were also a number of excellent underwater images placing in the various categories, which included Mangroves and Landscape, Mangroves and Wildlife, Mangroves and Threats, Mangroves and People, Mangroves and Conservation Stories, and of course, Mangroves and Underwater. The winner of the Mangroves and Underwater category was DPG Photographer of the Week Anita Kainrath, who captured a perfectly composed shot of a juvenile lemon shark swimming in shallow mangrove forests in the Bahamas. Another Photographer of the Week, Brooke Pyke clinched the runner-up spot with another split shot—a lush and thriving mangrove forest growing atop a vibrant coral reef in Raja Ampat, Indonesia.
See more winners, runners-up and highly commended images below. Don’t forget the DPG Masters Underwater Imaging Contest is accepting submissions until December 1st—and there is a ton of awesome trip and gear prizes to be won.
Mangroves and Underwater: Winner
Mangroves and Underwater: Runner-up
Mangroves and Underwater: Highly Commended
Mangroves and Landscape: Highly Commended
Mangroves and Threats: Highly Commended