The 12 Finalists of the Beaker Street Science Photography Prize

Jul 15, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A seal splashes in the water near a rocky shore while a seagull flies away with a fish in its beak, captured mid-air. — Lily Barnett – ‘Lunch time’ | Dynamic interaction between two predators vs one prey. Just moments before the photo, the white bellied sea eagle stole the fish out of the jaws of the fur seal. The photo depicts the eagle as a kleptoparasite, stealing food that another animal has already caught.

The Beaker Street Science Photography has revealed its 12 finalists that each tells a powerful scientific story.

The competition is based in Tasmania, Australia, and each picture focuses on rarely seen natural phenomena. A panel of judges will choose the winner, and there will also be a People’s Choice winner.

The Milky Way stretches brightly across a starry night sky above a calm lake, surrounded by trees and distant mountains, with the scene reflected in the water. — David Nolan – ‘Milky Way over Waterworks Reserve’ Dark sky conservation is crucial in preserving our view of the night sky, protecting wildlife, and reducing energy waste. Light pollution from cities obscures stars and celestial wonders such as the Milky Way. At places such as the Waterworks Reserve, just minutes from Hobart, we are incredibly fortunate. Despite its proximity to the capital city, for now the skies remain dark enough here for us to witness the Milky Way stretching overhead. This rare urban-fringe experience reminds us of the importance of managing outdoor lighting thoughtfully. Preserving such places allows future generations to enjoy the stars and connect with the universe beyond our increasingly illuminated world.

Two people stand holding hands on a rocky shoreline, silhouetted against a vibrant sky lit by colorful auroras in shades of pink, purple, green, and blue, with dramatic clouds and stars above. — Jordan Cripps – ‘Your Hand in Mine’ Standing silently on the tiled siltstone of the Tessellated Pavement, this couple watched the immense geomagnetic phenomenon we call the Aurora Australis exploding in the sky above them. The Pavement, comprising 250-280 million-year-old rocks, slowly morphed into patterns that look astoundingly manmade, due to the Earth’s movement and jointing combined with continual sea salt erosion. The reflections create a beautiful juxtaposition between the old, slow movement of the Earth and new, aggressive movements in the sky. Almost as if the Aurora and the Pavements were working in harmony to show off the raw power and splendor of nature.

A bright yellow spider crab with long, slender legs clings to reddish coral underwater, blending in with its surroundings. — Nicolas Horniblow – ‘Sea Spider’ – Utilises macrophotography. Pictured here is a specimen of Tasmania’s Pallenella ambigua, a small and cryptic marine arthropod species belonging to class Pycnogonida, better known as sea spiders. These animals don’t possess a traditional respiratory system and instead rely on pores along the exoskeleton of their legs to extract oxygen from the surrounding seawater via diffusion. Despite their alien characteristics, they are often overlooked or forgotten by divers and biologists in favour of larger and more charismatic creatures. To shine a light on the lesser-known creatures of the ocean is to better consider our impact on the marine environment at every tier and scale.

Two slender, dark fungal stalks with iridescent, oval-shaped spore capsules stand side by side on a blurred, earthy background. The scene resembles two figures leaning gently toward each other. — Sarah Lloyd – ‘Slime moulds – overlooked and underestimated’ This 3 mm tall Lamproderma gracile is one of approximately 175 species of slime mould I have found along a one-kilometre forest track, which gives an inkling of just how common they are on vegetation in all terrestrial ecosystems. Now classified as Amoebozoans, the three life stages of slime moulds – amoeba, plasmodium, and spore-bearing fruiting body – perform important roles in different ecological niches. Amoebae predate soil-dwelling bacteria and are the principal recyclers of soil micronutrients; plasmodia consume yeasts, fungal spores and hyphae, and are also important recyclers. Spores and plasmodia provide food for collembola, flies, beetles, snails and parasitic fungi.

A small, camouflaged fish rests on a large, textured sea creature covered with green, circular patterns, blending into the colorful underwater environment. — Rosa Maria Cañedo-Apolaya – ‘Keep swimming… This is my spot’ Forsterygion varium, commonly known as the variable triplefin, is a small marine fish usually found around shallow rocky areas and is known for its territorial behaviour. This means they actively defend certain areas as their own, especially during the breeding season. This photo was taken in the summer at the Blessington Coastal Reserve. Here the variable triplefin was seen alongside an eleven-armed sea-star (Coscinasterias muricata).

A close-up of a green sea slug with leaf-like appendages on its back, perched on underwater seaweed against a blue-green, blurred background. — Alison McNeice – ‘PhotosyntheSlug’ Shows a biological concept (e.g. an egg being laid, camouflage, metamorphosis, bioluminescence). The cactus sea slug (Sacoproteus smaragdinus) is a herbivorous sea slug measuring up to 8 cm in length. Despite its size, it is rarely seen as its appearance is almost identical to the Caulerpa cactoides alga it feeds on. Not only do the cerata – green globules on its back – provide excellent camouflage, they also photosynthesise. The green hues are chloroplasts retained in the slug’s digestive system, a unique symbiotic relationship known as kleptoplasty. The cells continue to photosynthesise, giving its host energy. The cactus sea-slug is one of rather few multicellular animals multicellular animal to do so, giving it the nickname ‘solar-powered sea slug.’

A small marsupial with a bushy tail and white spots on its back glows under ultraviolet light, standing on reddish rocks against a dark background. — Ben Alldridge – ‘The Magic Rat and His Slick Machine’ In Tasmania’s southwest wilderness, many creatures stalk the night. Eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) are amongst them, harbouring a very neat trick from us. Where their fur is normally fawn or black, under certain wavelengths of light, they exhibit a process referred to as biofluorescence – like nature’s version of a white shirt glowing at a disco. All of the light and colour in this image is the subject’s natural glow in response to invisible UV light, exploding from its natural sandy colouration. This is the first documentation of the species glowing in the wild and forms part of ongoing research into the impacts of light pollution.

Close-up of a textured, bumpy surface with clusters of tan, brown, and white irregular shapes, resembling natural formations or coral. — Matilda Francis – ‘Liken the lichen’ I like the depth in this photo and the way that lichen looks different when you look at it close up. I took lots of photos on a trip that we did to Mt Field and this is one of my favourites. Under 12.

Microscopic view of reddish-orange brain tissue with branching black neuron-like structures and a bright blue cell body at the center, highlighting neural connections. — Kelli Miller – ‘Inner terrain’ PPPs are found during a dried blood evaluation, which are used to give a more in depth look into the health of the individual. PPPs are seen as white areas which look like holes with black tentacle-like lines running out from its form. They are soft clots called polymerised protein puddles and vary in size from small white dots to larger ones. They indicate the degree of tissue health, often associated with free radical damage / oxidative stress and toxins in the terrain. The shape, size and location of the PPPs may indicate the nature of the condition. This image was taken on my microscope using a 40X objective. When projected onto a screen it becomes roughly 2000X magnification.

Close-up of several orange-brown leaves with intricate frost crystals forming along their edges, creating a delicate, sparkling pattern. The background is blurred, highlighting the texture and detail of the frosted leaves. — Chelsea Bell – ‘Crystalline Forest’ Icicles of hoarfrost form on the finely serrated margins of fallen Nothofagus gunnii (deciduous beech) leaves, shown here at sunrise. Radiative cooling overnight causes surface temperatures to drop below freezing. Water vapour from the surrounding air deposits directly as a variety of intricate ice crystals, highlighting the leaf’s venation and structural symmetry. This phenomenon illustrates the microclimatic interplay between moisture, temperature, and plant morphology in late Autumn/early Winter.

A black and white bird with yellow streaks on its wings flies near a metallic sculpture of large leaves. The bird's wings are spread wide as it maneuvers around the shiny, silver-grey sculpture. — Deon Scanlon – ‘Aerodynamic attraction’ The magic of flight has forever captured the collective imagination of humanity. Birds in flight provide wonderful insights into aerodynamics, and it’s not hard to see how bird wings influence human artistic design when they interact this closely.

The 12 images will be on display at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from August 6 to August 31, after which time the winners will be announced.

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