The spectacular collection of pictures showcases the wealthy biodiversity of mangrove forests, while highlighting the significance of conserving this treasured habitat for the well being of our planet, its wildlife and future generations.
Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the competitors.
Mangrove Photography Awards 2025
Mangrove Photographer of the Year, Overall Winner – Mark Ian Cook, Bird’s-Eye View of the Hunt
Cook’s general profitable picture, awarding him Mangrove Photographer of the Year, captures a flock of roseate spoonbills gliding over a lemon shark looking mullet within the shallow, mangrove-lined waters of Florida Bay. Historically, Florida Bay was the first nestling area of the roseate spoonbill within the US, however this species is changing into more and more uncommon there as sea stage rise negatively impacts their necessary mangrove foraging habitat. – Photo Credit: Mark Ian Cook / Mangrove Photography Awards
Birds Category Winner – Mark Ian Cook, Avian Impressionism
Blue-winged teal create ephemeral paintings as they dabble for meals within the chai-coloured shallows of Florida Bay. The odd yellow color is fully pure and is a consequence of the mangroves lining the bay; the primary flush of freshwater from the Everglades positive factors this wealthy, whiskey hue because it passes by means of the swamp and extracts the tannins leached from decaying mangrove leaves. The migrating teal are feeding simply downstream of the mangroves, filtering excessive densities of algae and different microorganisms from the shallow fringe of the bay. – Photo Credit: Mark Ian Cook / Mangrove Photography Awards
Birds Category, Highly Commended – Mark Ian Cook, Pyramid of Scaup
Prior to drainage of the southern Everglades within the Nineteen Forties, these lakes have been barely brackish, crystal clear and supported dense beds of aquatic vegetation, which in flip supported an abundance of animal life, together with lots of of hundreds of migrating and wintering waterfowl. As the movement of the water from the north have been curtailed by human actions, the salinity of the lakes elevated significantly, the aquatic vegetation largely died off, and elevated sedimentation and vitamins diminished the readability of the water and the power for the vegetation to recuperate. With the lack of the vegetation and the wealthy range of prey animals it supported, the waterfowl vanished from this a part of the world. But with elevated volumes of freshwater flowing south final 12 months due to the El Niño circumstances, in addition to current restoration actions that permit extra water to movement to this a part of the Everglades, the coastal lakes have been recovering, and for the primary time in 80 years have attracted tens of hundreds of waterfowl. – Photo Credit: Mark Ian Cook / Mangrove Photography Awards
Birds Category, Highly Commended – Nicholas Hess, Patience
A Pacific reef heron hunts a college of fish from a mangrove department in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. – Photo Credit: Nicholas Hess / Mangrove Photography Awards
Mammals Category Winner – Satwika Satria, A Snack within the Mangrove Forest
A younger proboscis monkey enjoys an avicennia fruit amidst the dense mangrove forest. The avicennia fruit is among the major meals sources for proboscis monkeys. – Photo Credit: Satwika Satria / Mangrove Photography Awards
Mammals Category, Highly Commended – Kaushik Ghosh, Flower of Mangrove
After hours of monitoring by means of the mangroves, this elusive tiger lastly revealed itself within the afternoon – rising beneath the Hental tree, like a blossom unfolding within the wild. An ideal concord of predator and habitat. – Photo Credit: Kaushik Ghosh / Mangrove Photography Awards
“‘Mother’ is a word that needs no separate definition,” says Naha. “The word ‘mother is formed with the pronunciation ‘m’, which is present in all languages like Maa/Amma etc. Even in the sound of various animals calling their mother, the influence of ‘m’ can be seen.”
Other Species Category Winner – Christian Møldrup Legaard, Night within the Mangrove
The dance of a colony of fireflies portray trails of sunshine throughout a mangrove apple tree at the hours of darkness, captured right here by a protracted publicity. The trails gathering round this specific tree reveals the fireflies’ affinity for the actual tree – with only some people venturing away briefly earlier than turning again. – Photo Credit: Christian Møldrup Legaard / Mangrove Photography Awards
Other Species Category Runner Up – Javier Aznar González De Rueda, Claws of Power
A male fiddler crab (Uca sp.) performing a sign dance within the mud at sundown. During courtship, males wave their enlarged claw and produce sounds to draw females. This behaviour is extra intense at evening and may contain synchronous waving with different males. – Photo Credit: Javier Aznar González De Rueda / Mangrove Photography Awards
Other Species Category, Highly Commended – Ramprasad Dutta, The Watcher and the Wanderer
In the Sundarbans, a large crocodile rests close to a tiny mudskipper. Despite the dimensions distinction, the fish reveals no concern. Their contrasting colours create a uncommon, fascinating second within the wild. – Photo Credit: Ramprasad Dutta / Mangrove Photography Awards
Other Species Category, Highly Commended – Vydehi Kadur, Tidewalker
Amid the tangle of mangrove roots on Havelock Island within the Andaman archipelago, India, a mudskipper (Periophthalmus sp.) rests between the arching roots of a Rhizophora mangrove tree. Perfectly tailored to an amphibious life, mudskippers use their pectoral fins to ‘stroll’ on land, whereas their protruding eyes scan each sky and water for predators. Thriving on the fringe of two worlds, these exceptional fish are synonymous with the mangrove ecosystem. – Photo Credit: Vydehi Kadur / Mangrove Photography Awards
Young Mangrove Photographer of the Year Winner – Nicholas Hess, Crocodile Galaxy
In this picture, Hess captures a pair of American crocodiles sitting beneath the Milky Way in a mangrove forest within the Florida Everglades. – Photo Credit: Nicholas Hess / Mangrove Photography Awards
Underwater Category Winner – Alex Pike, Low Tide on Hermit Crab Island
Clibanarius taeniatus, considered one of Australia’s most typical hermit crab species, pictured just under the waters floor. – Photo Credit: Alex Pike / Mangrove Photography Awards
Highly recommended within the Underwater categoty is Cucchiara’s picture of a delicate manatee grazing beneath the roots of a mangrove forest. – Photo Credit: Valentina Cucchiara / Mangrove Photography Awards
Underwater Category Runner Up – Renee Capozzola, Netted Sulawesi Scene
This split-level shot taken within the shallow mangroves round Bangka Island in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, reveals remnants of ghost nets above with cardinal fish under the water’s floor. – Photo Credit: Renee Capozzola / Mangrove Photography Awards
Underwater Category, Highly Commended – Kiliii Yuyan, Blacktip Reef Shark within the Mangroves
Juvenile blacktip reef sharks cruise within the shallows underneath the mangroves in a portion of Palau’s Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At this website, referred to as shark metropolis, tour operators will throw their leftover lunches for the sharks to eat, bringing them shut for vacationers to take pleasure in. Sharks are protected in Palau – it was the primary nation to declare itself a shark sanctuary. Palau’s Marine Protected space is among the largest on Earth. – Photo Credit: Kiliii Yuyan / Mangrove Photography Awards
Chetumal Bay, positioned in southeastern Mexico, was designated a protected pure space for manatee conservation in 1996, as a result of vital significance of this species alongside the coasts of Quintana Roo. – Photo Credit: Humberto Bahena Basave / Mangrove Photography AwardsStudies, utilizing satellite tv for pc tagging of male manatees, have proven that these people ceaselessly enter the lagoon system in quest of females for mating – weeks later, the identical males have been discovered over 200 kilometres away in one other lagoon system positioned south of Belize City, pursuing the identical goal. In this manner, Mexico and Belize are linked by means of the reproductive dynamics of this species. – Photo Credit: Humberto Bahena Basave / Mangrove Photography AwardsThe bay gives beneficial circumstances for manatees, together with plentiful submerged vegetation on which they feed, intensive shallow waters, and numerous sources of freshwater. – Photo Credit: Humberto Bahena Basave / Mangrove Photography AwardsAs a results of human impacts, the group have encountered manatees entangled in fishing strains and have promptly carried out rescues. – Photo Credit: Humberto Bahena Basave / Mangrove Photography Awards
Top picture: The Watcher and the Wanderer. Credit: Ramprasad Dutta, Mangrove Photography Awards
