Sheila Peake, A cold blooded encounter (ANIMALS 2026)

A still lagoon, with the birds chirping happily in the background, belied the monster approaching. Fallen tree branches from a recent flood blocked the inflow to the lagoon, but that was no obstacle to this behemoth. As he raised his body up over the tree blocking his way, the full width of his body came out of the water. I captured this gigantic, beautiful and terrifying vision in that moment, as he swam up and over, then he sank beneath the still water. 83 million years of experience.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.