Dianne Susan Hodge, The Power of One (ANIMALS 2024)

Whilst photographing wildlife along the Chobe River in a small flat-bottomed boat, a big mother hippo unexpectedly decided to charge the stern of the vessel where I happened to be sitting. I managed to quickly take this shot between the motor hood and sun awning support post, as well as alert our boat operator to get the vessel moving. Needless to say, we made a very hasty retreat. There were quite a few young hippo in the area and the parents were naturally being very protective of their offspring. It never ceased to amaze me how such large, amazing creatures could so silently disappear beneath the water's surface and then suddenly reappear much closer than anticipated. An experience I'll never forget. Camera settings: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sigma Sports 014, 1/200 sec at f/5.0, 165mm.

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