Runner-up | Creative Nature Photography
An underwater shot of a pack of Chum Salmons running up a cold Alaskan creek as they force their way to the sacred reproduction grounds in Prince William Sound. During their perilous journey from the ocean to the stream (where they hatched) to spawn, sometimes, these salmon go through passages with water levels so low they can't even breathe, but they keep going! Once at their spawning ground, these fearless females lay thousands of eggs inside a pit they dig with their powerful tails. The eggs are often fertilised by different males. As her last duty servicing the circle of life, she guards her egg until she dies.