Shane Gross's Image

Shane Gross (Canada) looks under the surface layer of lily pads as a mass of western toad tadpoles swim past.

Shane snorkelled in this lake on Vancouver Island for several hours.

Any disturbed silt and algae on the lake bottom would have reduced visibility. To avoid this, he followed the trails cleared by beavers through carpets of lily pads on the surface.

Every day, western toad tadpoles swim up from the safer depths of the lake, dodging predators and trying to reach the shallows where they can feed.

The tadpoles start becoming toads between 4 and 12 weeks after hatching. An estimated 99% will not survive to adulthood. Those that do make it to adulthood face threats from roads, pesticides and herbicides, and the chytrid fungus.

Photonaturalist and Competition Judge Tony Wu said “the photographer immerses us in an epic migration of tiny tadpoles, a scene that most of us would have never imagined existed. By putting us in the midst of this movement of millions, they highlight the fact that beauty and magic exist everywhere, even in the most mundane of settings.”