Like a child eating candyfloss: see a green turtle tuck into jellyfish

This photo of a young green turtle is shortlisted for the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2022 competition, one of several stunning images showing off the region’s wildlife and landscape

By Gege Li

THIS celebration of the landscapes and wildlife of Australia is drawn from some of the shortlisted entries for the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2022 competition. Simone Caprodossi’s shot of a young green turtle snacking on a lion’s mane jellyfish at Byron Bay in New South Wales – above, titled Jelly Floss – was shortlisted in the Animals in Nature category. Caprodossi likens the turtle to a child consuming candy floss; he managed to capture it, in its eagerness to eat, with the jellyfish wrapped around its face like a veil.

A green tree frog takes a pre-dawn stroll along a pavement in downtown Bellingen, New South Wales, in the image Feeling A Bit Green (above) by Peter Abery, shortlisted in the Urban Animals category. “I put my camera on the ground to get the perspective I wanted,” said Abery.

In Star Fall by Luke Tscharke (above), shortlisted in the Astrophotography section, the Milky Way is a twinkling backdrop for the Pelverata Falls in Tasmania.

The above image, The Long Lady, by James Dorey, is on the Animals in Nature shortlist. It shows a female ghost wasp in Mitcham, South Australia, that lays larvae in bee or wasp nests, which then feed on both their hosts and any food stored in the nest. “This lady is just doing what’s best for her children,” said Dorey.

Benjamin Goode took the shot above on the Tasman Peninsula coast – titled Fantasy and on the Landscape shortlist – while humpback whales breached around him. “The landscape photographer in me couldn’t resist taking a few moments to capture the stunning coastal scenery,” he said. Winners will be announced in August.