National Geographic (@natgeo)

Photo by @thomaspeschak | High tide in Aldabra lagoon finds green turtles grazing on seagrass. Once exploited for their fatty meat, harvesting has given way to protection in all Seychelles waters. What on the surface looks like a relatively easy shot was actually incredibly complex. The turtles are abundant in the lagoon, but most evenings even the most gentle of winds ripple the water, distorting the turtles' iconic shape into a Picasso-esque cubist abstraction. In over two months spent on the remote Indian Ocean atoll, I encountered glassy conditions just once, for a 20-minute period. For more images from the wildest parts of our oceans, please follow @thomaspeschak