This bird’s eye view of a shark hunt won a photo contest

A school of hardyhead silverside fish (Atherinomorus lacunosus) flees from four blacktip reef sharks near the shore of the Maldives in this aerial photo.

Behavioral biologists Angela Albi and August Paula of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz, Germany, captured the image, a still frame from drone footage, during a study of how sharks interact with each other and their prey.

Blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) are social animals, and juveniles, such as these four, often gather and circle within schools of fish. Albi is trying to determine whether the sharks coordinate their attacks.

The snapshot won the 2024 Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition. Scientists from around the world submitted images from their research in five categories.