March 20

Congratulations to Ann Mellema of Naples, Fla., who submitted the top-rated image in this week’s It’s A Snap travel photo contest. Mellema’s photo shows a male Anhinga bird spearing a sunfish along the Turner River in South Florida’s Everglades National Park.

“Eventually he did swallow that fish,” Mellema said. “It took him five minutes to spear it, kill it and swallow.”

Mellema, a registered nurse by day, considers herself an amateur photographer, but “is trying to get professional.” She has had three photos published in her local newspaper, and can now add msnbc.com’s It’s A Snap to her credits.

Ultimately, Mellema aims to do more than capture pretty photos.

“I’m trying to promote public awareness of our Everglades and how we need to preserve what we have and not lose it,” she said.

Mellema takes photos in the Everglades every other week, and has captured “everything from rattlesnakes to alligators to birds to sunsets to butterflies.”

Eventually, the Floridian hopes to see her photos in a gallery, though for now they are on display at the hospital where she works. “Almost everyone I work with knows the Everglades now,” she said, adding many have visited the spots she’s photographed.