2020 Small World in Motion Competition

Eric Lind’s main career is with Audubon, New York, specializing in bird conservation and wildlife biology. An avid photomicrography hobbyist (and talented one), Mr. Lind captured this fascinating sequence of a developing larval freshwater snail inside its egg. Filming developing embryos can be especially tricky because as the embryo grows, it can literally expand quickly out of the frame of the image, necessitating the need for changes in magnification mid-movie. The snail image beautifully shows the tiny eyespots, heartbeat and mouth and for Mr. Lind, illustrates the fragility and vulnerability of wildlife in a human dominated world.