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Damselfly Photo Wins BMC Ecology and Zoology Image Prize as Cuttlefish Decline Raises Alarm

Judges said the images highlight urgent conservation signals, including a sharp fall in the giant Australian cuttlefish aggregation that may be linked to a recent algal bloom.

Image
© Allen Tian/BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology Joint Competition
Relationships in Nature winner: "Giant Cuttlefish in Breeding Battle"
Three grey manatee heads crowd together at a green mossy wall.

Overview

  • The joint BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology competition announced winners on Thursday, August 20, 2026, with Sritam Kumar Sethy’s 'Window to the Wetlands' — a Ceriagrion cerinorubellum damselfly — taking the overall prize.
  • Victor Huertas won the Relationships in Nature category for 'Giant Cuttlefish in Breeding Battle,' a 2023 shot of competing male Ascarosepion apama at the Upper Spencer Gulf aggregation.
  • Photographers and experts reported that the usual mass cuttlefish aggregation near Whyalla returned in much smaller numbers this year, and researchers suspect a recent algal bloom may have caused a population drop that is still being investigated.
  • Category winners also included Liam Brennan (Research in Action) for 'Intertidal Education' and Allen (Haolun) Tian (Protecting Our Planet) for 'A Bridge Between Past and Present,' with other commended images drawing attention to manatees, sea-turtle conservation and long-term field monitoring.
  • Organizers said the contest is limited to researchers at accredited institutions and published a detailed editorial explaining the judges’ choices, with the winning images used to communicate scientific methods and to spotlight conservation concerns that could affect local communities and ecosystems.