August Paula, PhD candidate of SmartNets project, has achieved top honors in the 2024 Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition, winning the coveted “Overall Winner” award. The photograph—captured via a drone piloted by August—beautifully illustrates the intricate predator-prey dynamics between sharks and fish.
This captivating image was further refined through the expertise of Dr. Angela Albi, who selected and edited the still to highlight the moment’s striking details. Their collaborative work also secured a “Winner” title in the Animal Behaviour category at the Nature in Focus Awards 2024, earning attention from multiple media outlets.
August Paula’s primary research centers on spatio-temporal decision making in animals. He combines a solid computational theory foundation—grounded in both neural and behavioral data—with highly controlled VR experiments in ants and quantitative field observations to advance our understanding of how animals perceive and navigate their environments.
The hunt from above, in motion
Watch the original drone video from which Albi’s winning photograph “The hunt from above” was extracted.
by Angela Albi and August Paula / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Sydney
Other press coverage
- Guardian | The photographs that defined 2024 – and the stories behind them
- CNN | Striking drone image of young sharks hunting fish wins photo competition
- NZ Times | Sharks hunting prey photo wins top award
- Popular Scicence | 9 fascinating images from the Royal Society Publishing Photography Prize
- MPI press release | Truth, beauty, and a perfect view – Angela Albi wins top prize in Royal Society photo competition
- The Royal Society | 2024 Royal Society Publishing Photography Competition
- Nature in Focus Awards 2024 | Shark in School