As Emanuele walked along the beach, the stench of rotting sea lion carcasses was almost unbearable. He had seen insects feeding on the corpses, but knew when he saw the iguanas eating the insects that he’d found something interesting. Lying on the sand, choked by the vile smell, he caught this iguana peeping through an eye socket.
With a colony of 15,000 South American sea lions nearby, the beach of Paracas National Reserve is a graveyard for the ones that have succumbed to illness or injury. Others die in occasional mass events triggered by El Niño, where ocean temperatures rise temporarily. The iguanas survive here on the sand, where little vegetation grows, by feeding on insects instead.
Italy
Emanuele is an Italian naturalist with a PhD in environmental sciences. He strongly believes in the power of science communication and the role of photography in sharing the hard work of all researchers, both in their labs and during fieldwork. He is an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers.
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