Stunningly Intimate Octopus Photos Take Home Aquatic Photography Award

This captivating and intimate image offers a unique view of the Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus Briareus), showcasing the mother and her potential offspring in the Blue Heron Bridge diving area near West Palm Beach, Florida.

Following mating, these solitary creatures retreat to seclude themselves while safeguarding their developing eggs. However, for Octopus Briareus and several other octopus species, this tale takes a tragic turn.

Once her mother octopus lays a batch of hundreds of eggs, she ceases to feed and dies shortly after the eggs hatch. Research conducted in 2022 illuminated this phenomenon. The optic nerve gland, the primary neuroendocrine hub of the octopus, regulates lifespan and reproduction in invertebrates, akin to the pituitary gland in vertebrates.

Octopus mothers can dramatically boost cholesterol production post-mating, leading to self-destructive spirals, although the reason behind this cycle remains elusive. One theory suggests that the octopus stops eating for her young.

The mother of the octopus by freelance nature photographer Kat Zhou triumphed in the Aquatic Life category at the Bigpicture Natural World Photography Competition, which invites both professional and amateur photographers to capture, narrate, and advocate for the conservation of Earth’s diverse life forms.

The overall grand prize went to photographer and conservationist Zhou Donglin for Lemur’s Tough Life, a breathtaking capture (shown below) taken at the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve in Madagascar. After a challenging trek through rugged terrain, Donglin documented a common brown lemur (Eulemur Fulvus) making a daring leap from one cliff to another—with her baby clinging on.

Next is Mud Skip by Georgina Steytler (shown below), depicting a fascinating reminder of life’s ancient past as a beautiful amphibian emerges from the mud. Steytler, a finalist in the Aquatic Life section of the competition, spent days at Goode Beach in Bloom, Western Australia to capture the precise moment when a Boleophthalmus pectinirostris leaped into the air.

The final image (shown below) appears reminiscent of a scene from another planet. In reality, Remaining in the Snow by plant photographer Ellen Woods, a finalist in the awards for landscapes, waterscapes, and flora, was captured near her home in Connecticut, in the northeastern USA.

It features skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), often among the first plants to bloom at winter’s end. Notably, it can create its own microclimate, generating warmth of up to 23°C even when ambient temperatures remain below freezing.

This unique capability of thermal regulation protects the plant from frost damage and attracts beetles and fly pollinators drawn to its warmth and scent of carrion.

However, it’s not particularly pleasant; the name arises from its odor, likened to a skunk’s scent when the leaves are disturbed.

The winning photograph will be displayed at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco later this year.