Award-Winning Photo Captures Ibis Journey to Winter Home

The bald ibis (Geronticus eremita), once pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching and climate change over 400 years ago in the northern foothills of the Alps, is now on the journey back home.

The photograph captures Helena Wehner in an ultralight plane, singing a German tune through a megaphone to guide the birds to their winter homes. Wehner, along with pilot Johannes Fritz and the Austrian Waldrup team (named after the ibis’ local moniker), is dedicated to re-establishing healthy populations of this species in Europe.

The juvenile ibises are human-raised and have developed such strong bonds that they willingly follow their caretakers, even in flight. Since launching in 2004, the relocation project has garnered support from local communities along the birds’ migration path. This ambitious 50-day journey spans approximately 2800 kilometers from southeastern Germany to southwestern Spain.

The stunning image of the birds soaring over Jaén’s olive groves in southern Spain, taken by student Gunnar Hartmann, earned him the top award at Nature Scientist at Work Photo Contest 2026. Hartmann volunteered with the conservation team in 2024 while studying at the Faculty of Science at Koblenz University in Germany. Upon receiving the award, he expressed that the image brings forth a torrent of emotions, saying, “You can smell the air and imagine the sounds of that day.”

Another remarkable photograph captured by marine biologist Uli Kunz highlights scientists setting up hatching chambers over coral reef ecosystems in the Red Sea near Saudi Arabia. This project aims to explore the differences in coral species, particularly Acropora, and to address the challenges posed by climate change on these vital ecosystems.

Another award-winning photograph by Robert Harcourt showcases biologist Michael Doan diving to collect microbial samples from a whale shark (Lyncodon typus) at Ningaloo Reef off Western Australia.

In another notable image, captured from above, we see a harmful algae bloom at Dog Lake in Ontario, Canada, predominantly of Microcystis aeruginosa and Dolichospermum floss aquae. Haorun (Allen) Tian, a doctoral student and photographer from Queen’s University, explains the lake accumulates a “layer of toxic, foul-smelling decay” each summer, which inversely affects fish populations and clogs local water supplies. The image features scientists taking water samples for environmental DNA analysis.

Lastly, Shayanta Chowdhury’s photo features entomologists at the University of Notre Dame examining yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) under a microscope. Researchers are investigating the potential of nitisinone to combat these pests, with mosquitoes having been fed a mixture of sugar containing both the drug and a fluorescent dye.