The Swarm of Life

A magical underwater image of western toad tadpoles has won the 2024 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

 

The winning image, “The Swarm of Life” by Canadian photojournalist Shane Gross, was chosen from a record-breaking 59,228 entries, according to a statement from the organizers, published Tuesday. 

 

“Shane captured the image whilst snorkelling for several hours through carpets of lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, making sure not to disturb the fine layers of silt and algae covering the bottom of the lake”, the organizers said.

 

“A near threatened species due to habitat destruction and predators, these tadpoles start their transition into toads between four and twelve weeks after hatching, but an estimated 99% of them will not survive to adulthood”.

 

Just so you know, the western toad (Scientific name: Anaxyrus boreas) is a large toad species, between 5.6 and 13 cm (2.2 and 5.1 inches) long, native to western North America. Normally encountered during the wet season on roads, or near water at other times. Breeding occurs between March and July in mountainous areas, and as early as January in lower-elevation regions. The female lays up to 17,000 eggs stuck together in strings that adhere to vegetation and other objects along water edges.

 

Jury chair Kathy Moran, former deputy director of photography at National Geographic magazine, said the judges were “captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles”. 

 

The popular social media platform TikTok has been accused of harming and failing to protect young people in a slew of new lawsuits filed by US states.

 

The legal action, filed on Tuesday in New York, California, and eleven other states, as well as the District of Columbia, add to continuing legal challenges the short-form video hosting service is already embroiled in in the United States. 

 

The latest filings accuse the company of intentionally using addictive software to keep children watching as long as possible, as well as of misrepresenting the effectiveness of its content moderation.