Smithsonian magazine's 22nd Annual Photo Contest | Made possible through the support of MPB.com

22nd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Tears of Salt

Pantanal, Brazil. After a few days of jaguar photography in the Pantanal, I decided to focus on caimans. While most jaguars (and photographers) were around Corixo Negro we decided to spend the afternoon in Rio Negrinho. We got there towards the middle of the afternoon and to my delight there were no other boats. I spotted at a distance a caiman with an orange butterfly on his eye. Butterflies need salt to supplement their diet and the caiman's tears are a perfect source of salt.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 08.2022
Date Uploaded: 10.2024
Photo Location: Brazil
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark II
Copyright: © Michel Zoghzoghi