Australian photographer, Daniel Sly, has won The Nature Conservancy’s Oceania Nature Photo Contest’s overall Grand Prize with an imaginative shot of a Pot-bellied Seahorse, taken off Bare Island in NSW.

The winning image, ‘Pot-bellied Seahorse Portrait’, by Daniel Sly, which earned the photographer Grand Prize of the contest and a $5,000 camera kit or camera kit gift card. © Daniel Sly.

Daniel Sly also won first prize for the “Water” category with the same image, scoring him an additional $750 in prizes. The 2024 Photo Contest sought entries from nature lovers residing in Australia, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The call was heard loud and clear across the region, with the total response reaching a whopping 1,896 entries. Australia took the lion’s share with 1220 entries, followed by New Zealand (398 entries), Papua New Guinea (238 entries) and the Solomon Islands (40 entries). Remarkably, New Zealand photographers shared the podium for the Plants and Fungi category, with Kiwi nature photographers winning first, second and third prize.

The following photographers have been named as winners in the contest’s individual categories:
People and Nature:
1st prize – “Salmon Surfer” by Duncan Macfarlane (Australia)
2nd prize – “Island Universe” by Peter Harlow (Australia)
3rd prize – “Into the Unknown” by Steve Genesin (Australia)
Plants and Fungi
1st prize – “Beneath the Glow” by Cristal Richardson (New Zealand)
2nd prize – “White” by Chin Kang Chia (New Zealand)
3rd prize – “Lacy Lichen” by Catilin Germanis (New Zealand)
Water
1st prize – “Pot-bellied Seahorse Portrait” by Daniel Sly (Australia)
2nd prize – “Vad” by Aayushi Khillan (Australia)
3rd prize – “Jelly blubber split” by Peter McGee (Australia)
Lands
1st prize – “Where there’s Smoke…there’s Food” by Michael S. Martin (Australia)
2nd prize – “Sand Forest” by Hamish Ashton (New Zealand)
3rd prize – “Time stands still” by Justin Tan (Australia)
Climate
1st prize – “Ice falls” by Scott Portelli (Australia)
2nd prize – “The Beast” by Darren Wassell (Australia)
3rd prize – “‘Opuha” by Bailee Barton (New Zealand)
Wildlife
1st prize – “Roar of Anger” by Xiaoping Lin (Australia)
2nd prize – “Toss of Life” by Naidu Kumapatla (Australia)
3rd prize – “Duck Dive” by Stuart Attwood (New Zealand)
To see all winning pictures, visit Nature Photo Contest | The Nature Conservancy Australia.