Jens Cullmann staked out the largest pool for his dramatic shot of an enormous and dangerous reptile. The photographer from Germany would capture the brightly-pigmented flaming iris of a crocodile, otherwise invisible within the thick mud; and this would garner Cullmann the prestigious title of Nature Photographer of the Year 2022.
The unforgiving dry season of Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe reduces these pools into huge, rapidly drying mud pits yearly. This is where the country’s largest crocodile and hippopotamus populations congregate—where the sweltering heat, sometimes reaching 45 degrees Celsius, sends crocs burrowing down into the dense mud in a bid to cool their body temperatures….