Courtesy Shane Gross / Wildlife Photographer Of The Year
Conservation photojournalist Shane Gross was in Seychelles when local scientists told him about an area where peppered moray eels hunt and scavenge for food on land.
Gross, who was recognized as Scuba Diving’s September 2023 Sea Hero, had asked if there were unique phenomena in the region that hadn’t been photographed very much. After thinking for a while, they told him about “this area where the eels will come out of the water,” Gross recalls. “An eel above water—I’d never heard of that.”
He knew he had to try to get a photo.
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The scientists showed Gross the eels’ hunting grounds. “It was an amazing thing to see,” he says, but it was challenging to get close enough to take pictures of this rarely photographed behavior.
“So I spent the next three weeks trying to figure it out,” he says, “and of course, you can only shoot at low tide.”
"I spent the next three weeks trying to figure [out how to get the shot]."
As well as hunting underwater, peppered eels can scavenge for carcasses in the intertidal zone, sometimes staying out of the water for more than 30 seconds. That’s exactly what these three individuals were doing while Gross watched on with his camera.
Trying to capture the moment was frustrating: It was very hot, there were bugs everywhere and he had to abide by the tides.
“Eventually I got there, but it took a lot of work,” he says. “To finally get that [shot], I just felt that sense of relief.”
The photo won the Animals in their Environment category at the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, which is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.
Gross says he was shocked and delighted to win, particularly because it showed the judging panels valued animals that often get less attention than charismatic megafauna.
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