Mangrove Photography Awards: Portrait of storm victim wins prize

For his picture of a younger girl in Frazerganj, Sundarbans, India, Supratim Bhattacharjee was the overall success of this year’s Mangrove Photography Awards.

Run by the Mangrove Action Project, the competition – now in its 10th year – aims to show the relationships between wildlife, coastal communities and mangrove forests, as well as the fragility of these unique ecosystems, both above and below the waterline.

Mr Bhattacharjee’s winning picture, called Sinking Sundarbans, shows Pallavi standing in front of her home and drink store, which has been destroyed by the water during a storm.

” I observed her strong experience and peaceful nature during that disastrous time”, said Mr Bhattacharjee.

Babies are the ones who suffer the most, according to the saying.

The Sundarbans, which is the largest tidal bush in the world, are located in the Bay of Bengal.

“]The winning ] image raises a thousand questions, whilst connecting you to the woman’s heart”, said competition judge Dhritiman Mukherjee.

” Her vulnerability exposes the full effects of sea level rise and climate change that many coastal areas have experienced,” she said.

One acre (4, 000 m ) of mangrove forest absorbs nearly the same amount of carbon dioxide as an acre of Amazon rainforest, which is a significant defense against climate change.

The trees also protect shores from eroding, as severe winds grow more frequent.

” Conservation as a history, is a complex one”, said another of the magistrates, Morgan Heim.

No matter what language we use, photography has the ability to make us feel close to those reports. Every day I look at this kind of photography, I think, there’s also hope”.

Christian Ziegler, a fellow judge, continued,” There were many interesting stories about living in the mangroves, ranging from medical discoveries to recovery of the ecosystem and the challenging conditions people face.”

Here are a variety of winning pictures from seven rivals categories, with explanations by the photographers.

Men, women and children, wearing sarongs and standard attire, collect dirt from a marsh bush in Kedonganan town, just outside the town of Denpasar in Bali, Indonesia.

They conceal themselves as part of a Mebuug Buugan purifying tradition, in which people pray for gratitude and the fertility of the earth.

The Sundarbans archipelago spans the borders of India and Bangladesh …]and ] is known for its rich forest resources, which locals rely on for income.

However, widespread deforestation combined with worsening storms has caused a decline in agricultural productivity and soil quality, as well as a rise in food and water shortages, and displaced native people as climate refugees.

As the soft flow of water navigates its lessons through the center of the marsh jungle, this serene image invites thought.

The intersecting roots of the trees create complex patterns that resemble a natural embroidery while maintaining flexibility.

The tide recedes far away from the shore and exposes an extremely sharp rocky reef on the rugged coast of Neil island ( Shaheed Dweep) in the Andaman Islands archipelago.

Bottlenose dolphins that live in the shallows of Florida Bay’s mangrove-lined bays and a few different locations in the Caribbean exhibit a special angling technique called mud-ring feeding.

A whale from the capsule encircles the fish by kicking up the sediments with its tail, which causes the fish to develop an ever-tightening spiral-shaped silty jet when they discover a college of quiff.

The animals have a impressive ability to spot the fish coming out of the air and will grab them as they try to flee.

At the El Cora Crocodile Sanctuary in Banderas Bay, Mexico, artist Javier Orozco and a snake confronted.

In the last 40 years, Banderas Bay has lost more than 80 % of its lakes to urban development.

This non-profit organization is situated next to a smaller pond. The region has been absorbed by hotels, condos, and shopping centers.

Due to repeated tropical storms and sea level rise in the Bay of Bengal, valley hillsides have become broken by great waves across the Sundarbans, West Bengal, India.

As a result, homes and farms have flooded, fish have become destroyed by water, and people have been forced to travel.

This peasant has lost all of his household items as a result of the disaster.

The female horseshoe crab strongly grasps onto the back of the woman, on a quest of duplication.

They travel as the sea rises, looking for a good spot to lay their eggs. However, when they get close to the trees, they get sucked into a massive ghost shield.

If they are not immediately rescued, they will eventually pass away from prolonged contact.

In Hong Kong and throughout Asia, abandoned fish nets wash offshore and in marsh trees, entangling many species.

A frog makes graceful movements through the trees ‘ squarish origins, looking for shelter for the night.

The area is transformed into a haven for marine life seeking house and security when the ocean engulfs the stems at higher tide.

Before reaching the sea, mangroves act as a biological filter that traps the majority of pollutants.

Dirt and marsh carbon have a substantial capacity to store carbon from the atmosphere, reducing carbon dioxide levels in the air.

The intricate stems of trees likewise help connect soil and sediment, lower degradation, and protect against damage from ripples and tides.

In Demak Regency, Indonesia, the beach has been greatly eroded, and trees that previously protected the beach have been cut down and replaced by fishing lakes. As a result, the water is absolutely swallowing person’s homes.

The only way to restore the ecosystem is to replant the mangroves that have been cut down, according to [ Demak’s residents ].

It is becoming more challenging to fish, get crabs, and guard against weather change and violent storms in the areas as a result of the cutting of mangrove plants.

Bôndy, a private firm working in ecosystem repair, collaborates with local areas to recover mangroves at a remote village in Majunga, Madagascar.

Up, usually with a grin and in excellent spirits, they traverse the trees to revive vast reaches of isolated area.

When I encountered this young salt crocodile in the trees at low tide, I wanted to capture more than just this.

To add layers to my image of the croc’s gaze without sacrificing any of the eye’s aspect, I used the camera’s numerous contact mode to do so.

Unknowing of what predators might be hiding in a mangrove, hidden by the dense network of the mangrove, the image conveys a slightly unsettling feeling.