Britta Jaschinski
Handprint on Sea Turtle
Combating illegal wildlife trade with forensic science, United Kingdom, 2025
Category - Changemakers
Every crime leaves a trace. On the hunt for smugglers with wildlife forensics: the work that aims to disrupt or even dismantle illegally run wildlife trade chains. At first glance this may appear to be an underwater photograph of a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), but can you spot the human handprint? This scene demonstrates a method for securing forensic evidence that can help to catch poachers and animal traffickers. Special fluorescent powder dyes, photographed under ultraviolet light, reveal traces of hand and fingerprints, blood and other bodily fluids, and gunpowder residues, among others. Wildlife forensic experts Dr. Alexandra Thomas and Louise Gibson from the ZSL Wildlife Forensic Lab, London, are developing such methods to assist law enforcement. Six of the world’s seven sea turtle species are classified as threatened, endangered, or critically endangered due to human persecution, habitat destruction, or marine pollution.
CATEGORY WINNER / ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHER 2026
53 mm f/2.8 Lens - 1/20 sec at f/5.6 ISO 1600