Antarctica through the eyes of Ukrainians: scientists' photos were awarded at the Wikipedia competition

Ukrainian Antarctic researchers have achieved a historic victory at an international scientific image competition. This was reported by the head of the National Antarctic Scientific Center, UNN reports.

Details

According to the information, five photos of Ukrainian polar explorers made it to the list of winners of the International Scientific Image Competition 2024, which is held within the framework of Wikipedia.

Two first prizes in the "People in Science" category were won by photos of geophysicist Oleksandr Bogomaz of the 29th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition. They captured the process of taking water samples from Antarctic lakes by biologist Serhiy Yermolenko.

Another work by Bogomaz was awarded in the "Living Organisms" nomination. It made it to the top five thanks to a rare moment - the photo shows a sub-Antarctic penguin of the gentoo species in the act of defecation.

The fourth place in the same category was taken by a shot by Andriy Utevsky - the starfish Labidiaster annulatus, which lives at a depth near the Antarctic coast. This predatory representative of the benthos impresses not only with its biological behavior, but also with its amazing appearance, which the researcher managed to capture.

Among the best shots in the "General Category" is a photo by geophysicist Anna Soina, who captured an unusual natural phenomenon: a rainbow against the background of snowfall. This phenomenon occurs only under extraordinary atmospheric conditions, when liquid water droplets and snow crystals coexist in the air - a truly rare sight in the conditions of Antarctica.

Let's add

The Scientific Image Competition is held annually to promote science and fill Wikipedia with high-quality visual material. This year, the Ukrainian part of the competition, organized by the NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine", lasted during November-December. It was attended by 72 authors who submitted 470 works in five thematic categories, as well as in the special nomination "Consequences of the War".

In previous years, Ukrainian polar explorers Yevhen Prokopchuk, Yuriy Shepeta and researcher Victoria Ivanets also became winners of the competition.