The dazzling winners of the British Ecological Society’s photo awards

By Gege Li

The striking photo above and the selection that follows celebrate the beauty and diversity of the natural world. Taken by ecologists and students worldwide, the images are among the winners, runners-up and highly commended entries from the British Ecological Society’s 2020 “Capturing Ecology” photography competition.

The overall winner was Alwin Hardenbol at the University of Eastern Finland for the opening shot of a Dalmatian pelican, the largest type of pelican and one threatened by the loss of its breeding colonies and aquatic habitats.

Pichaya Lertvilai, SIO, UC San Diego/British Ecological Society

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This shot of Verrill’s two-spot octopus larvae emerging from their egg sacs won Pichaya Lertvilai at the University of California, San Diego, a spot as a runner-up.

Roberto García Roa, University of Valencia/British Ecological Society

Roberto García Roa at the University of Valencia, Spain, was the winner of “The Art of Ecology” category for this image of a Cope’s vine snake using its open mouth as a tactic to scare predators.

Upamanyu Chakraborty/ British Ecological Society

The runner-up images include a procession of weaver ants carrying younger colony members to safety, taken by Upamanyu Chakraborty, a researcher at the Wildlife Institute of India.

Gabor Pozsgai, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University/British Ecological Society

These final images are from the highly commended list: a perfectly camouflaged Oiticella convergens moth captured by Gabor Pozsgai, who is at the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in China; and a coyote, taken by Peter Hudson of Pennsylvania State University.

Peter Hudson, Penn State University/British Ecological Society