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Mangrove photography awards 2023 in pictures | Environment

Mangrove photography awards 2023 – in pictures

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Winners and runners-up in the mangrove photography awards run by the Mangrove Action Project. This year, Soham Bhattacharyya was named mangrove photographer of the year for an image capturing the curious gaze of an endangered tigress in the Sundarbans

Main image: The Finest Flower of the Mangroves – the mangrove photographer of the year overall winner. Photograph: Soham Bhattacharyya/Mangrove Photography Awards

Wed 25 Oct 2023 02.00 EDT Last modified on Wed 25 Oct 2023 16.37 EDT

  • Pink Mangrove Lagoon – mangroves and landscape runner-up

    Unique conditions in temperature, minerals and algae turn this lagoon in Colombia pink. The salinity of the seawater combined with rising temperatures makes for an ideal situation for microscopic pink algae to thrive. This is likely to become more common with rising temperatures due to climate change.The photographer says: ‘In the least expected area of a mangrove in the Caribbean coast of Colombia, near Cartagena, a pink lagoon forms seasonally, given unique conditions of water ph, temperature, bird presence and light – a magical and unexpected sight.’

  • Eye Contact – young mangrove photographer of the year winner

    A baby golden-spotted mudskipper on the edge of a mangrove in Samut Sakorn province, Thailand. Mudskippers are an amphibious fish and can use their pectoral fins to “walk” on land. (Photographers under the age of 24 were competing to become this year’s young mangrove photographer of the year.)

  • Hiding in Plain Sight – mangroves and wildlife winner

    A nesting common potoo (Nyctibius griseus) in the dense mangrove forest of Colombia’s Utría national park. Rather than construct a nest, the bird deposits its single egg in a small depression along a branch. Active only by night, potoos sit motionless during the day, using their camouflage to remain hidden. ‘As I didn’t want to risk disturbing the potoo into flight, I photographed it with a long lens and partially obscured by the branches of intervening mangrove trees. It was only after looking through the lens that I realised there was actually a single egg.’

  • A Lemon’s Life – mangroves and underwater winner

    A juvenile lemon shark in shallow mangrove forests in the Bahamas. Lemon sharks are probably the most understood sharks in the world, thanks to more than 30 years of studies by Bimini Shark Lab. ‘Lemon sharks spend their first four to six years in shallow waters where mangrove forests protect them from bigger predators. They build friendships with other juvenile sharks and learn how to hunt. They are absolutely gorgeous, smart, curious and clumsy. Mangroves build a perfect ecosystem and are their nursery and for so many other species.’

  • The Theatre of Plastic – mangroves and threats winner

    A land hermit crab (Coenobita sp.) wandering around at night close to the beach of Pom Pom island in Malaysia, where every day plastic waste from Semporna city is deposited by sea currents. ‘I wanted to show the mess plastic is doing to this amazing place. When I found this poor hermit crab using a deodorant plastic plug instead of an empty shell, I knew I found my sad ambassador for this terrible human problem.’

  • Emerging Roots – mangroves and landscape winner

    Roots emerge from shallow water deep inside a mangrove forest. Brazil is home to extensive mangrove ecosystems along its coastline, and has approximately 7% of the world’s mangrove area. Mangroves face threats from deforestation, pollution and climate change impacts such as rising sea levels. ‘As the low tide allowed me to walk through the trees, I saw this scene where the roots were partially submerged. I used a long exposure to soften the surface of the water and transform the photo into black and white to give the scene a sinister look.’

  • Séphora the Clam Diver – mangroves and people winner

    Between river, sea and land, the Mangrove Marine Park, a fragile nature reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a home to turtles, manatees, and women who harvest clams. ‘The park is a veritable maze of islands and channels. Women like Séphora dive up to four metres for clams. They sell skewers with clam meat in the cities of Muanda and Boma. Entire islands, like Kimwabi where Séphora lives, are built on empty shells.’

  • The Blue Fig – mangroves and conservation stories winner

    The Sundarbans is one of the wildest places left on Earth: a biodiversity hotspot and a complex tidal network of waterways and islands. Scientists forecast that the whole coastal belt of Bangladesh around the Sundarbans will be submerged by 2050.Helena Begium, 55, pictured, says: ‘Six months ago, during Cyclone Amphan, I lost my cattle, all domestic animals. Since then, I live in our wrecked house all alone. My children have left for the city to find a job. There is no work … we hardly get to catch fish. I have little left to eat. How am I going to survive with so much struggle, I do not know.’

  • The Finest Flower of the Mangroves – mangrove photographer of the year overall winner

    A young royal Bengal tigress in mangrove bushes. There are perhaps only 200 of these animals in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. According to the last survey, conducted in 2018, there were 114 tigers in the Bangladesh portion of the Sundarbans. The West Bengal forest department’s tiger estimation exercise for 2020-21 put the number of big cats in the region at 96. These Bengals are the only tigers adapted to live in a mangrove habitat.

  • Stewards of the Mangroves – mangroves and conservation stories runner-up

    Members of the TRY Oyster Ladies Association from the Gambian village of Lamin head out on Lamin Bolong, a tributary of the Gambia River, to harvest oysters from the mangroves. The river’s mangroves are crucial to its ecosystem, and benefit the local women who collect oysters. The wetlands are an important carbon sink, storing up to 10 times more carbon than forests. The ladies association plays a vital role in protecting the wetlands, educating members to preserve and replant the mangroves and harvest sustainably.

  • Mangroves v Aquaculture – young mangrove photographer of the year runner-up

    Indian shrimp aquaculture can have significant impacts on mangrove forests. One of the most significant negative impacts of shrimp aquaculture is the destruction and clearance of mangrove forests to make way for shrimp ponds. Shrimp farming requires the use of chemicals, antibiotics and fertilisers to enhance production. These substances can leach into surrounding water bodies, leading to water pollution and harming the mangrove ecosystem and other marine life.

  • In the Forest – mangroves and people runner-up

    A fisher navigates the winter mangroves in Hue, Vietnam. Ru Cha mangroves forest is nestled in Tam Giang lagoon in Thua Thien-Hue province. In the local dialect, ‘ru’ means forest while ‘cha’ is the name of the trees growing densely in the forest. The photographer says: ‘Ru Cha is a mangrove forest that is considered the green lung of Tam Giang lagoon. Each season, the scenery in Ru Cha has its own beauty. In winter, the mangrove trees shed their leaves, leaving thin white trunks. Seeing that scene is like a giant spider web.’

  • Mating Nurse Sharks – mangroves and wildlife runner-up

    While conducting a scientific study of waterbirds, the photographer captured from a helicopter the rarely observed mating behaviour of two large nurse sharks in shallow waters off the mangrove-lined Shark Point in the Everglades national park, Florida. Tangled prop roots and submerged vegetation offer a secure environment where adult sharks can engage in courtship without the disturbances and turbulence often found in open waters.

  • Cleaning up the Coastline – mangroves and threats runner-up

    A worker carries a crate full of rubbish from the north coastline of Jakarta, Indonesia. Plastic debris such as bottles, bags and microplastics can accumulate in mangrove forests. This contamination can smother and damage mangrove roots, which are essential for stabilising the coastline and provide habitat for numerous species
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Kary Bruening

Update: 2024-06-07

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