Whales making waves by Bertie Gregory
A pod of orcas, also known as killer whales, are featured in this image taken by Bertie Gregory. The photo captures the orcas charging towards ice floes in the waters around Antarctica, creating a wave that washes their prey, a Weddell seal, into the water.
Last gasp by Lennart Verheuvel
Lennart Verheuvel’s winning image depicts a sick and malnourished orca stranded on a beach in the Netherlands. Despite initial efforts to refloat the whale, it eventually became stranded again and sadly died.
Life on the edge by Amit Eshel
Amit Eshel’s photograph captures the intense clash between two male Nubian ibexes in Israel’s Zin desert. During the mating season, these rival males stand on their hind legs and ram their heads together, sometimes breaking each other’s horns. The duel captured in the photo lasted for about 15 minutes before one male surrendered.
The ancient mariner by Laurent Ballesta
Laurent Ballesta won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year title for the second time with his image of a tri-spine horseshoe crab. Taken in the waters off Pangatalan Island in the Philippines, the photo shows the horseshoe crab being escorted by three juvenile golden trevallies. The horseshoe crab, which is an arachnid and not an actual crab, stirs up scraps of food as it moves over the mud.
Hippo nursery by Mike Korostelev
Photographer Mike Korostelev captured a heartwarming moment of a hippopotamus and her two offspring resting in a shallow lake in iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa. Hippos give birth to one calf every two to three years, and Korostelev spent over two years visiting the lake to gain the animals’ trust and capture this remarkable image from a safe distance.
Last breath of autumn by Agorastos Papatsanis
Agorastos Papatsanis’ photo showcases a fungus releasing its spores in the forests of Mount Olympus in Greece. The shot was illuminated by the photographer’s camera flash, highlighting the beauty and intricacy of the spore release process of the parasol mushrooms.
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