Winners revealed for 58th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The winners of the Natural History Museum’s prestigious 58th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition been announced.
American photographer Karine Aigner took out the overall title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year for her remarkable image of a buzzing ball of cactus bees spinning over the hot sand on a Texas ranch. In her winning image, all except one of the bees are males, and they are intent on mating with the single female at the centre. Aigner is only the fifth woman in the competition’s fifty-eight-year history to be awarded the Grand Title award.
© Karine Aigner, USA. The big buzz.Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Winner, Behaviour: Invertebrates. Karine Aigner gets close to the action as a group of bees compete to mate. Using a macro lens, Karine captured the flurry of activity as a buzzing ball of cactus bees spun over the hot sand. After a few minutes, the pair at its centre – a male clinging to the only female in the scrum – flew away to mate. The world’s bees are under threat from habitat loss, pesticides and climate change. With 70% of bee species nesting underground, it is increasingly important that areas of natural soil are left undisturbed. Location: South Texas, USA. Chair of the jury, writer, and editor, Rosamund ‘Roz’ Kidman Cox OBE stated: "Wings-whirring, incoming males home in on the ball of buzzing bees that is rolling straight into the picture. The sense of movement and intensity is shown at bee-level magnification and transforms what are little cactus bees into big competitors for a single female."
This year, the competition received more than 38,000 entries from 93 countries. Final category winners were narrowed down to just 19 images. Aside from Aigner's title, sixteen-year-old Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn from Thailand was the other recipient of a Grand Prize, taking out the title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year his image, The beauty of baleen .
© Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn, Thailand . The beauty of baleen . Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Winner, 15-17 Years. Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn is intrigued by the contrasting colours and textures of a Bryde’s whale, which surfaces close by. Following government tourism guidelines, the tour boat Katanyou was travelling on turned off its engine as the whale appeared close by. This meant that Katanyou had to steady his hands to capture this close-up composition as the boat rocked in the swell. Bryde’s whales have up to 370 pairs of grey-coloured plates of baleen growing inside their upper jaws. The plates are made of keratin, a protein that also forms human hair and nails, and are used to filter small prey from the ocean. Location: Upper Gulf of Thailand, Phetchaburi, Thailand. .Australian photographers lauded
A number of Australian photographers were recognised in the competition, with four receiving Highly Commended awards for their entries. Their images appear below.
© Scott Portelli, Australia. Double interest. Scott Portelli shares the object of his focus with an inquisitive sea lion. Scott’s fascination with an elaborately camouflaged leafy seadragon piqued the curiosity of an Australian sea lion. Rolling in the kelp, it investigated Scott’s muse without disturbing it. The kelp beds these animals rely on are becoming increasingly damaged by human activity and pollution. Without them, leafy seadragons are unable to camouflage or shelter and sea lions are forced to hunt in open waters, risking attacks from great white sharks and orcas. Location: Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia, Australia. © Douglas Gimesy, Australia. Wombat lockdown. Highly Commended, Photojournalism. Douglas Gimesy shows two baby common wombats asleep at the home of their caregiver during lockdown. These wombats were found alive in their mothers’ pouches after they were killed by cars. The Covid-19 lockdown left Emily Small having to provide them with their regular feeds at her apartment instead of at the Goongerah Wombat Orphanage. When the young wombats are ready to be released back into the wild, they will still have to survive the effects of the climate emergency – floods, drought and bushfires – along with habitat destruction and cars on country roads. © Calumn Hockey, Australia. Up a gum tree. Highly Commended, Photojournalism. Calumn Hockey uses a drone to show environmental campaigners surveying the effects of forest clearance in Tasmania. Calumn composed a picture that would show both the devastation below and a hint of what had been cleared. The environmentalists had climbed a Tasmanian oak gum tree after the clearance of old‑growth forest for mining. Although this protest is about mining, there are many threats to Tasmania’s old-growth forest. The biggest is logging. Takayna is the largest area of temperate rainforest in Australia and is home to masked owls, a variety of marsupials and giant Tasmanian crayfish. © Juergen Freund, Germany/Australia. The snake tree. Highly Commended, Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles. Juergen Freund enjoys a swim with venomous sea snakes. As the tide receded around Fiji’s Great Sea Reef, dozens of banded sea kraits headed for a lone mangrove tree, a regular hangout spot. To Juergen’s delight, snakes arrived from every direction, ‘swimming all over him’ to get to the tree. Sea kraits are among the most venomous animals in the tropical Indo-Pacific but are not aggressive and very rarely bite people. Unlike most sea snakes, they leave the water to mate, lay eggs, shed their skin, and digest food. Location: Vaturova, Vanua Levu, Fiji. Category winners
Animal portraits
© José Juan Hernández Martinez, Spain P uff perfect. Winner, Animal Portraits. José Juan Hernández Martinez witnesses the dizzying courtship display of a Canary Islands houbara. José arrived at the houbara’s courtship site at night. By the light of the moon, he dug himself a low hide. From this vantage point he caught the bird’s full puffed-out profile as it took a brief rest from its frenzied performance. A Canary Islands houbara male returns annually to its courtship site to perform impressive displays. Raising the plumes from the front of its neck and throwing its head back, it will race forward before circling back, resting just seconds before starting again. Natural Artistry © Junji Takasago, Japan. Heavenly flamingos . Winner, Natural Artistry. Junji Takasago powers through altitude sickness to produce a dream-like scene. Junji crept towards the preening group of Chilean flamingos. Framing their choreography within the reflected clouds, he fought back his altitude sickness to capture this dream-like scene. High in the Andes, Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt pan. It is also one of Bolivia’s largest lithium mines, which threatens the future of these flamingos. Lithium is used in batteries for phones and laptops. Together we can help decrease demand by recycling old electronics. Location: Salar de Uyuni, Daniel Campos Province, Bolivia. Photojournalist Story Award © Karine Aigner, USA . The Cuban connection . Winner, Photojournalist Story Award. ‘Why the caged bird sings. A Cuban bullfinch is positioned alongside a road so that it becomes accustomed to the hubbub of street life and therefore less likely to be distracted during a competition. These birds are highly prized for their sweet voice and feisty spirit. Portfolio Award © Laurent Ballesta, France . Under Antarctic ice. Winner, Portfolio Award. ‘Pyramid of life’. Living towers of marine invertebrates punctuate the seabed off Adelie Land, 32 metres (105 feet) under East Antarctic ice. Here, at the centre, a tree-shaped sponge is draped with life, from giant ribbon worms to sea stars. Rising Star Portfolio Award © Mateusz Piesiak, Poland . A theatre of birds. Winner, Rising Star Portfolio Award. ‘Dunlin panorama‘. Placing his remote camera on the mud of the reed bed, Mateusz seized the opportunity to capture the moment when a passing peregrine falcon caused some of the dunlins to fly up. Behaviour: Birds © Nick Kanakis, USA. The listening bird . Winner, Behaviour: Birds. Nick Kanakis gains a glimpse into the secret life of wrens. Nick spotted the young grey-breasted wood wren foraging. Knowing it would disappear into the forest if approached, he found a clear patch of leaf litter and waited. Sure enough, the little bird hopped into the frame, pressing its ear to the ground to listen for small insects. This prey-detecting technique is used by other birds, including the Eurasian blackbird. Grey-breasted wood wrens are ground-dwelling birds, often heard but not seen. They broadcast loud, melodious songs and rasping calls while hidden in the undergrowth. Oceans: The Bigger Picture © Richard Robinson, New Zealand. New life for the tohorā . Winner, Oceans: The Bigger Picture. Richard Robinson captures a hopeful moment for a population of whales that has survived against all odds. Hindered by poor visibility, Richard used a polecam to photograph the whales gradually moving towards his boat. Pushing his camera to its limits in the dark water, he was relieved to find the image pin-sharp and the moment of copulation crystallised in time. When ready to mate, the female southern right whale rolls onto its back, requiring the male to reach its penis across the female’s body. Known by the Māori as tohorā, the New Zealand population was hunted to near extinction in the 1800s, so every new calf offers new hope. Shot under New Zealand Department of Conservation permit #84845-MAR. Underwater © Tony Wu, USA/Japan . Shooting star . Winner, Underwater. Tony Wu watches the electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Tony faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view, in this galaxy-like scene. The ‘dancing’ posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Location: Kinko Bay, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Plants and Fungi © Agorastos Papatsanis, Greece . The magical morels. Winner, Plants and Fungi. Agorastos Papatsanis composes a fairy tale scene in the forests of Mount Olympus. Enjoying the interplay between fungi and fairy tales, Agorastos wanted to create a magical scene. He waited for the sun to filter through the trees and light the water in the background, then used a wide-angle lens and flashes to highlight the morels’ labyrinthine forms. Morels are regarded as gastronomic treasures in many parts of the world because they are difficult to cultivate, yet in some forests they flourish naturally. Location: Mount Olympus, Pieria, Greece. Behaviour: Mammals © Anand Nambiar, India. The great cliff chase. Winner, Behaviour: Mammals. Anand Nambiar captures an unusual perspective of a snow leopard charging a herd of Himalayan ibex towards a steep edge. From a vantage point across the ravine, Anand watched the snow leopard manoeuvre uphill from the herd. It was perfectly suited for the environment – unlike Anand, who followed a fitness regime in preparation for the high altitude and cold temperatures. Snow leopards live in some of the most extreme habitats in the world. They are now classed as vulnerable. Threats include climate change, mining, and hunting of both the snow leopards and their prey. Photojournalism © Brent Stirton, South Africa. Ndakasi’s passing . Winner, Photojournalism. Brent Stirton shares the closing chapter of the story of a much-loved mountain gorilla. Brent photographed Ndakasi’s rescue as a two-month-old after her troop was brutally killed by a powerful charcoal mafia as a threat to park rangers. Here he memorialised her passing as she lay in the arms of her rescuer and caregiver of 13 years, ranger Andre Bauma. As a result of unrelenting conservation efforts focusing on the daily protection of individual gorillas, mountain gorilla numbers have quadrupled to over 1,000 in the last 40 years. Location: Senkwekwe Center, Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Animals in their Environment © Daniel Mideros, Ecuador. Spectacled bear’s slim outlook. Winner, Animals in their Environment. Daniel Mideros takes a poignant portrait of a disappearing habitat and its inhabitant. Daniel set up camera traps along a wildlife corridor used to reach high-altitude plateaus. He positioned the cameras to show the disappearing natural landscape with the bear framed at the heart of the image. These bears, found from western Venezuela to Bolivia, have suffered massive declines as the result of habitat fragmentation and loss. Around the world, as humans continue to build and farm, space for wildlife is increasingly squeezed out. Location: Peñas Blancas, Quito, Ecuador. Wetlands - The Bigger Picture © Daniel Núñez, Guetamala. The dying lake. Winner, Wetlands - The Bigger Picture. Daniel Núñez uses a drone to capture the contrast between the forest and the algal growth on Lake Amatitlán. Daniel took this photograph to raise awareness of the impact of contamination on Lake Amatitlán, which takes in around 75,000 tonnes of waste from Guatemala City every year. ‘It was a sunny day with perfect conditions,’ he says, ‘but it is a sad and shocking moment.’ Cyanobacteria flourishes in the presence of pollutants such as sewage and agricultural fertilisers forming algal blooms. Efforts to restore the Amatitlán wetland are underway but have been hampered by a lack of funding and allegations of political corruption. Location: Lake Amatitlán, Villa Canales, Guatemala. Urban Wildlife © Dmitry Kokh, Russia. House of bears. Winner, Urban Wildlife. Dmitry Kokh presents this haunting scene of polar bears shrouded in fog at the long-deserted settlement on Kolyuchin. On a yacht, seeking shelter from a storm, Dmitry spotted the polar bears roaming among the buildings of the long-deserted settlement. As they explored every window and door, Dmitry used a low-noise drone to take a picture that conjures up a post-apocalyptic future. In the Chukchi Sea region, the normally solitary bears usually migrate further north in the summer, following the retreating sea ice they depend on for hunting seals, their main food. If loose pack ice stays near the coast of this rocky island, bears sometimes investigate. Location: Kolyuchin Island, Chukotka, Russia. Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year – 10 Years and Under © Ekaterina Bee, Italy . Battle stations . Winner, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year – 10 Years and Under. Ekaterina Bee watches as two Alpine ibex spar for supremacy. It was near the end of a spring day trip with her family that Ekaterina spotted the fight. The two ibex clashed horns and continued to trade blows while standing on their hind legs like boxers in a ring. In the early 1800s, following centuries of hunting, fewer than 100 Alpine ibex survived in the mountains on the Italy–France border. Successful conservation measures mean that, today, there are more than 50,000. Location: Pian della Mussa, Piedmont, Italy. Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles © Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar, Mexico. The bat-snatcher . Winner, Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles. Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar waits in darkness as a Yucatan rat snake snaps up a bat. Using a red light to which both bats and snakes are less sensitive, Fernando kept an eye on this Yucatan rat snake poking out of a crack. He had just seconds to get the shot as the rat snake retreated into its crevice with its bat prey. Every evening at sundown in the Cave of the Hanging Snakes, thousands of bats leave for the night’s feeding. It is also when hungry rat snakes emerge, dangling from the roof to snatch their prey in mid-air. Location: Kantemo, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year – 11-14 Years
© Ismael Domínguez Gutiérrez, Spain . Out of the fog . Winner, 11-14 Years. Ismael Domínguez Gutiérrez reveals a monochromatic scene as an osprey sits on a dead tree, waiting for the fog to lift. When Ismael arrived at the wetland, he was disappointed not to be able to see beyond a few metres – and certainly he had no hope of glimpsing the grebes he wanted to photograph. But as the fog began to lift, it revealed the opportunity for this striking composition. Ospreys are winter visitors to the province of Andalucía. Here the many reservoirs offer these widespread fish‑eating raptors shallow, open water that is clearer than many rivers and lakes. Location: Embalse de Los Hurones, Cádiz, Spain. The exhibition of winning images will be in display in the UK and tour internationally to venues in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and New Zealand, among others.
