This award was established by the British Phycological Society in recognition of Hilda Canter-Lund, whose stunning photographs will be known to many members. Her photomicrographs of freshwater algae combined high technical and aesthetic qualities whilst still capturing the quintessence of the organisms she was studying.
Congratulations to all that made the shortlist, the competition was strong this year, and the BPS thanks everyone who submitted images and voted for their favorites.
2023 Winners
Macro category – Shannon Moran: “Golden Kelp in Evening Light“

Shannon Moran is an award-winning underwater photographer based in Cornwall, UK. After graduating from Marine and Natural History Photography in 2020, she has continued to photograph the incredible marine life found in our oceans.
Twitter @Shannon_Photo, Instagram @ShannonMoranPhoto

Micro category – Giulia Marchioro: “Zooxanthellae and the fluorescent chamber“

Giulia Marchioro is a Ph.D. candidate at the Vienna Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution and the Natural History Museum Vienna, in Austria, funded by FCT, Portugal. Her collaborative project with the Adameyko lab at the Medical University of Vienna and the Haus des Meeres focuses on the investigation of the distribution patterns and expression profiles of fluorescent proteins (FPs) in mesophotic corals and how FPs can modulate light use by the coral’s photoautotrophic endosymbionts (zooxanthellae). Giulia has always been fascinated by marine life and diving, but it was during an internship at HIMB (USA) in 2015, she became passionate about coral reefs and in exploring and understanding the wonders of this environment.

Coral species: Echinopora lamellosa from Haus des Meeres: Aqua Terra Zoo, Vienna, Austria.
2023 Highly Commended – Macro category
Samantha Clements: “San Clemente Island Giant Kelp“

Alex Thomson: “painted ceiling“

2023 Highly Commended – Micro category
Ana Knezevic: “Red beauty“

During the spring of 2022, an expedition was carried out to the Buna River in the south part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where samples of this Batrachospermum species were collected. The expedition aimed to study and document the biodiversity of these amazing organisms in their natural environment.
The micrograph was captured using a Zeiss AxioImager M.1 microscope equipped with an AxioCam MR5 – DIC optic at 40X magnification. The image shows the delicate structure and vivid pigmentation characteristic of this freshwater red alga.
It is important to note that the distribution and abundance of Batrachospermum, as well as many other species, can be significantly affected by anthropogenic activities. Strong human impacts on their habitats, such as pollution or changes in water conditions, pose a serious threat to the survival and reproduction of these beautiful organisms. By raising awareness and promoting responsible environmental practices, we can help preserve the biodiversity and ecological balance of our freshwater ecosystems.
Callum Whyte: “Armoured buddies“

Pichaya Lertvilai: “Macrocystis pyrifera“

Specimens were cultivated by Mohammad Sedarat, PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whose research explores thermal tolerance in giant kelp. This entry highlights a multidisciplinary collaboration to catalogue morphological differences of M. pyrifera across a range of environmental stress regimes using high resolution imagery.
This image was taken with a darkfield microscopy technique with a 5x magnification and with focal stacking to enhance depth of field.