Tane Sinclair-Taylor's image of a clownfish and a bleached anemone is one of the many remarkable biological photographs chosen as finalists and winners in Royal Society Publishing's 2016 contest.
This Entacmaea quadricolor in the Red Sea has been reduced to no color due to climate change and pollution globally. This is what they can look like:
Elevated sea temperatures have caused the loss of an algae (zooxanthellae – Symbiodinium) which usually lives symbiotically in the anemone's tissue. Along with the loss of photosynthetic pigments, the absence of algae makes the anemone appear pale and 'bleached'. This photo was shot during a research cruise documenting devastating post-bleaching coral mortality in the Farasan Banks in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia.
Check out the Royal Society site for more of the remarkable images of nature.
From an octopus beneath the sea, to mayflies in the sky, insects camouflaged against the leaves of a tree, Velella velella stranded on a beach and the microscopic image of a seed pod, we received over 1000 entries across dozens of countries demonstrating biological phenomena in a range of environments. 12 finalists were eventually selected and their works are presented here.
• Finalists 2016 (Royal Society)
