The Best 17 Photos From The "2020 BigPicture Natural World Photography" Competition

When the California Academy of Sciences announced their 2020 BigPicture Natural World Photography competition, the main idea was to “both celebrate and illustrate the rich diversity of life on Earth and inspire action to protect and conserve it through the power of imagery”. And competitors definitely managed to grasp it.

"Pink whip rays catching a ride on a small-eyed ray. The theory is that by doing this they seek protection from predators, save energy and also get leftovers from the big ray.This rare behavior was captured on the SS Yongala shipwreck, on the Great Barrier Reef off Ayr, in Queensland, Australia, and has been registered on the same dive site for around a decade, with different individual small-eyed rays… Could this be passing on through generations?"