<
https://www.livescience.com/animals/crustaceans/hauntingly-beautiful-image-of-a-golden-horseshoe-crab-wins-wildlife-photography-competition>
'A stunning image of a golden horseshoe crab shuffling along the seabed with
three striped fish overhead has won this year's Wildlife Photographer of the
Year competition.
Laurent Ballesta, a French underwater photographer and marine biologist,
captured the striking scene in the protected waters of Pangatalan Island in the
Philippines, a refuge for endangered tri-spine horseshoe crabs (
Tachypleus
tridentatus).
These horseshoe crabs have existed for more than 100 million years, award
representatives said in a statement shared with
Live Science, but they now
face habitat destruction and dwindling food due to overfishing. Humans also
harvest them for their unique blue blood, which is used in the development of
vaccines.
"To see a horseshoe crab so vibrantly alive in its natural habitat, in such a
hauntingly beautiful way, was astonishing," Kathy Moran, chair of the jury for
the competition, said in the statement. "We are looking at an ancient species,
highly endangered, and also critical to human health. This photo is
luminescent."'
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
