Winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 – The Swarm of Life by Canadian photographer Shane Gross

Dear Readers, yesterday I gave my talk to Finchley Women’s Institute, on the subject of ‘ A Community is More Than Just People’. I was a bit worried about it – I hadn’t done a presentation for years, plus as you might remember I managed to throw myself to the floor again on Tuesday, so was back to hobbling about with a crutch. But what a lovely evening it was! I had forgotten how much fun it was to talk about something that other people also care about, and are interested in. I got some great questions, and at the end one of the ladies showed me the photo above, and asked me what I thought it was.

At first glance, it looks like a flight of birds heading through a bamboo forest, but it is actually a shoal of Western Toad tadpoles, taken in Canada by photographer Shane Gross. It’s just won the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year award, and I am so pleased that such a humble creature has been given its moment in the spotlight. So often photography prizes are won by photos of  big charismatic animals such as elephants or tigers, but this particular prize often highlights interesting images of creatures that are often overlooked.

I wondered how Gross took the photo, and the answer was ‘with some difficulty’. He snorkelled in a lake on Vancouver Island, using the paths made by beavers so that he didn’t stir up silt and make the water cloudy. But what are the tadpoles doing? Every night they hide away from predators in the depth of the lake, but in the morning they travel en masse to shallower water to feed. Only about 1 percent of the tadpoles will survive to adulthood, which is probably the same percentage of the froglets in my pond that will survive. No wonder frogs and toads often lay so many eggs, and have so many offspring, when the odds against them are stacked so high.

The image itself is stunning. We can see the sunlight in the top left of the photo, and little bubbles of air are clinging to the sides of some of the tadpoles, making them look silver. Am I the only one that looks at them and wills them on, hoping for the best for every single little scrap of life. It’s amazing how a single image can make you stop and think, not only about the little toads but about the whole underwater world, hidden from our eyes for most of the time but so vital to the health of the planet.

And I suppose that’s why it’s so important to share an image, a story, an idea about the natural world – it helps us to find ‘our people’, the great and expanding community of those who care about the plants and animals around us, and want to share their knowledge and their observations. There is something very special about knowing that you’re not alone, however eccentric you might sometimes feel. The world is full of Bug Women (and Men) and Tree People, and Plant Persons. You just need to find them.

You can see some of the other winning photos in Wildlife Photographer of the Year here.