21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Life Raft

September was an especially dry month in Texas, and the local pond here depicted became isolated when all connections to larger bodies of water dried up. When the oxygen in the water began to deplete, and fish began to die, these turtles used a floating cadaver as an alternative to the buzzard-ridden shore.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 09.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: None, United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Copyright: © Alex Staten