Chris Freelance, The Glint (ANIMALS 2026)

Albatross are widespread and efficient hunters of fish and cephalopods. What caught my attention was the glint of the low afternoon night reflecting off the eye and beak droplet of this Buller's albatross. Like for many seabirds, this droplet is highly concentrated salty water excreted from salt glands below the eyes- an adaptation removes excess salt to allow them to survive drinking seawater.

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