The spectacular number of pictures showcases the wealthy biodiversity of mangrove forests, while highlighting the significance of conserving this valuable habitat for the well being of our planet, its wildlife and future generations.
Here are a few of our favorite photographs 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 successful picture, awarding him Mangrove Photographer of the Year, captures a flock of roseate spoonbills gliding over a lemon shark searching 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 turning into more and more uncommon there as sea degree 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 completely pure and is a consequence of the mangroves lining the bay; the primary flush of freshwater from the Everglades beneficial properties this wealthy, whiskey hue because it passes via 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 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 a whole lot of 1000’s of migrating and wintering waterfowl. As the circulate 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 decreased the readability of the water and the flexibility for the vegetation to get better. 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 latest restoration actions that permit extra water to circulate 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 1000’s 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 likely one of 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 via 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 in the dead of night, captured right here by a protracted publicity. The trails gathering round this specific tree exhibits 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 night time and might 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 exhibits no worry. 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, one in all Australia’s commonest hermit crab species, pictured slightly below the waters floor. – Photo Credit: Alex Pike / Mangrove Photography Awards
Highly recommended within the Underwater categoty is Cucchiara’s picture of a mild 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, exhibits remnants of ghost nets above with cardinal fish beneath 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 beneath the mangroves in a portion of Palau’s Rock Islands Southern Lagoon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At this web site, 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 likely one of the largest on Earth. – Photo Credit: Kiliii Yuyan / Mangrove Photography Awards
Chetumal Bay, situated 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 regularly enter the lagoon system seeking females for mating – weeks later, the identical males have been discovered over 200 kilometres away in one other lagoon system situated south of Belize City, pursuing the identical goal. In this fashion, Mexico and Belize are related via the reproductive dynamics of this species. – Photo Credit: Humberto Bahena Basave / Mangrove Photography AwardsThe bay supplies beneficial circumstances for manatees, together with considerable 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 crew 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