/ 2026 / Nature / Underwater

• Prize
  Honorable Mention
• Photographer
  yanakiji, Japan
• Date of Photograph
  10 April, 2026
• Website
  https://yanakiji.com/
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/yanakiji/

In a Palau lake, golden jellyfish once filled the water so densely they brushed every swimmer. Said to be stingless, they nearly vanished in 2024 amid environmental changes and careless treatment by visitors, including some who threw them for amusement. When I visited in April 2026, they were back. One touched my face, sending a faint electric prick through my skin. Perhaps what we once thought harmless had evolved a faint sting—the smallest form of resistance against us. Even so, they do not rage or flee. Like golden spacecraft, they still drift silently through the lake’s green universe.