15 Winning Submissions From The Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 Awards
The 60th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards recently concluded, and the winners were announced in London. This year, a stunning array of submissions was put forward by a record-breaking number of entrants. Over 59,228 entries were received from 117 countries and territories from which the winners were chosen under different categories.
Shane Gross, was awarded the prestigious title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 for his image ‘The Swarm of Life’, a vibrant capture of ordinary tadpoles that inhabit most bodies of water. Each winner’s image is shared in the gallery below, along with their winning category. Scroll to check out the striking beauty of nature, captured by the lens of these talented photographers, vividly showcasing the living world surrounding us.
“Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London”
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#1 Winner, 11-14 Years: An Evening Meal by Parham Pourahmad, USA
Image source: Natural History Museum
Parham Pourahmad watches as the last rays of the setting sun illuminate a young Cooper’s hawk eating a squirrel. Over a single summer, Parham visited Ed R Levin County Park most weekends to take photographs. He wanted to showcase the variety of wildlife living within a busy metropolitan city, and to illustrate that ‘nature will always be wild and unpredictable’. The Cooper’s hawk is a common species across southern Canada, the USA, and central Mexico, where it inhabits mature and open woodlands. These adaptable birds also live in urban spaces, where there are tall trees to nest in, and bird feeders that attract smaller birds, which they can prey on
#2 Winner, Underwater: Under The Waterline By Matthew Smith, UK/Australia
Along with a small team of photographers, I sailed from Argentina to the Antarctic peninsula onboard a 60ft yacht under wind power. Travelling by yacht meant we could ensure more intimate encounters with wildlife whilst also minimising our carbon footprint and impact on this environment.
As we sailed into Paradise Harbour on the Antarctic Peninsula, this young leopard seal approached our small sailing boat. Bold and curious by nature, it circled around us as if wanting to learn more about what we were doing in its domain. This gave me time to don my dry suit and quietly slip into the water with my camera.
This was my first personal encounter with a leopard seal and I didn’t want to push any boundaries, so I slowly swam over to a small chunk of floating ice and waited to see what would happen next. Soon the young leopard seal approached me out of curiosity and began to display investigative behaviour. It seemed very relaxed with my presence, making several passes, so I began to shoot some frames. I had to work quickly as it was late in the day and light was fading fast. Using a neutral density graduated filter on my lens I managed to retain drama in the sky whilst being able to light the seal with a flash from one side.
Krill and penguins make up for most of the leopard seals natural diet. However, pressure from retreating sea ice and warming waters around the Antarctic peninsula, pollution and overfishing means that krill and penguin numbers are both in decline. 2022 saw a record low in Antarctic sea ice and led to the catastrophic failure of Emperor penguin breeding colonies due to loss of sea ice.
Taken 15th Feb 2023
Image source: Natural History Museum
Matthew Smith carefully photographs a curious leopard seal beneath the Antarctica ice. Matthew used a specially made extension he designed for the front of his underwater housing to get this split image. It was his first encounter with a leopard seal. The young seal made several close, curious passes. ‘When it looked straight into the lens barrel, I knew I had something good.’ Though leopard seals are widespread and abundant, overfishing, retreating sea ice and warming waters mean that krill and penguins – their main food sources– are both in decline.
#3 Winner, Behaviour: Amphibians And Reptiles: Wetland Wrestle By Karine Aigner, USA
Image source: Natural History Museum
Karine Aigner recognises the skin of a yellow anaconda as it coils itself around the snout of a yacaré caiman. The tour group Karine was leading had stopped to photograph some marsh deer when she noticed an odd shape floating in the water. Through binoculars, Karine quickly recognised the reptiles and watched as they struggled with each other. Caimans are generalist feeders and will eat snakes. As anacondas get larger, they will include reptiles in their diet. It’s hard to determine who is the aggressor here. On the snake’s back are two tabanids, blood-sucking horsefliesthat are known to target reptiles.
#4 Winner, Behaviour: Mammals: Tranquil Moment By Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod, Sri Lanka
This baby toque macaque was happily suckling milk from it’s mother. It was so relaxed it almost fell asleep. I saw this baby macaque at Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka, in April this year. I used Nikon 600mm prime lens and nikon D 500 camera to capture this moment hand held. I took extra care not to make any undue noises which could disturb this bond.
Image source: Natural History Museum
Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod finds this serene scene of a young toque macaque sleeping in an adult’s arms. Resting in a quiet place after a morning of photographing birds and leopards, Vinod soon realised he wasn’t alone. A troop of toque macaques was moving through the trees above. Vinod spotted this young monkey sleeping between feeds and used a telephoto lens to frame the peaceful moment. Toque macaques easily adapt to human foods, and the encroachment of plants into their habitat has seen an increase in incidents of shooting, snaring and poisoning by farmers trying to preserve their crops.
#5 Winner, Urban Wildlife: Tiger In Town By Robin Darius Conz, Germany
Image source: Natural History Museum
Robin Darius Conz watches a tiger on a hillside against the backdrop of a town where forests once grew. Robin was following this tiger as part of a documentary team filming the wildlife of the Western Ghats. On this day, he used a drone to watch the tiger explore its territory before it settled in this spot. The protected areas in the Western Ghats, where tigers are carefully monitored, are some of the most biodiverse landscapes in India and have a stable population of tigers. Outside these areas, where development has created conflict between humans and wildlife, tiger occupancy has declined.
#6 Winner, Photojournalist Story Award: Dolphins Of The Forest By Thomas Peschak, Germany/South Africa
Image source: Natural History Museum
‘Among the Trees’
The Amazon river dolphin is one of two freshwater dolphin species living in the Amazon and Orinoco basins. Only this species has evolved to explore the seasonally flooded forest habitat.
#7 The Swarm of Life: Shane Gross wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024
Western toad (Anaxyrus boreas) tadpoles among lily pads in a lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Image source: Natural History Museum
Canadian Marine Conservation Photojournalist, Shane Gross, was awarded Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 for his image ‘The Swarm of Life’, a breathtaking photograph that shines a light on the magical underwater world of western toad tadpoles. Shane captured the image whilst snorkelling for several hours through carpets of lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, making sure not to disturb the fine layers of silt and algae covering the bottom of the lake. A near threatened species due to habitat destruction and predators, these tadpoles start their transition into toads between four and twelve weeks after hatching, but an estimated 99% of them will not survive to adulthood.
#8 Winner, Behaviour: Birds: Practice Makes Perfect By Jack Zhi, USA
Image source: Natural History Museum
Jack Zhi enjoys watching a young falcon practising its hunting skills on a butterfly, above its sea-cliff nest. Jack has been visiting this area for the past eight years, observing the constant presence of one of the birds and photographing the chicks. On this day, it was a challenge to track the action because the birds were so fast. Should this young peregrine falcon make it to adulthood, tests have shown it will be capable of stooping or dropping down on its prey from above, at speed of more than 300 kilometres per hour (186 miles per hour).
#9 Winner, Natural Artistry: The Artful Crow by Jiří Hřebíček, Czech Republic
Image source: Natural History Museum
Jiří Hřebíček creates an impressionistic vision of this perching carrion crow. Jiří often visits his local park in Basel as it’s an ideal place to experiment with camera techniques. To create this painterly effect of a sitting carrion crow, Jiří deliberately moved his camera in different directions while using a long shutter speed. Carrion crows are intelligent birds that have successfully adapted to living alongside humans, with gardens and parks providing a regular food supply. In Switzerland, they are found north of the Alps, with some of the highest concentrations around Basel.
#10 Winner, Animals In Their Environment: Frontier Of The Lynx By Igor Metelskiy, Russia
Image source: Natural History Museum
Igor Metelskiy shows a lynx stretching in the early evening sunshine, its body mirroring the undulating wilderness. The remote location and changing weather conditions made access to this spot– and transporting equipment there – a challenge. Igor positioned his camera trap near the footprints of potential prey. It took more than six months of waiting to achieve this relaxed image of the elusive lynx. A survey carried out in 2013 estimated the entire Russian lynx population was around 22,500 individuals, with numbers for the Russian Far East, including those in Primorsky Krai, at 5,890.
#11 Winner, Photojournalism: Dusting For New Evidence By Britta Jaschinski, Germany/UK
FORENSIC EXPERT
Forensic expert from the MET London – Serious Crime Unit is working at Heathrow Airport to lift fingerprints of confiscated ivory. CITES Border Force Team, Heathrow Airport, London, UK
IFAW: “Usually fingerprints cannot be lifted from ivory, its odontogenic pores soak them up within a day or two. With this new chemically tailored and finer magnetic powder, less fingerprint sweat material is needed and the powder can adhere to residues from 28 days previously, although they are still at their best quality within the first seven days.
The powder can be coloured for use on dark materials such as rhino horn. Jewellery made with rhino horn is now beginning to appear on the market. The kit has also been tested successfully on tiger claws, hippopotamus teeth, sperm whale teeth and even bird’s eggs. The kit costs £100 and comes in a robust lightweight field case suitable for use in remote or hostile range areas. Everything needed to carry out the forensic test is inside and the powder itself is relatively inexpensive.”
Image source: Natural History Museum
Britta Jaschinski looks on as a crime scene investigator from London’s Metropolitan Police dusts for prints on a confiscated tusk. Britta spent time at the CITES Border Force department, where confiscated animal products are tested. Newly developed magnetic powder allows experts to obtain fingerprints from ivory up to 28 days after it was touched, increasing the chances of identifying those involved in its illegal trade. The International Fund for Animal Welfare has distributed more than 200 specially created kits to border forces from 40 countries. They have been instrumental in four cases that resulted in 15 arrests.
#12 Winner, Oceans: The Bigger Picture: A Diet of Deadly Plastic by Justin Gilligan, Australia
Worryingly, the diet of flesh-footed shearwaters that nest on Lord Howe Island is increasingly seasoned with plastic waste drifting in the oceans. By measuring the impact and exposing the of the problem, researchers with the Adrift Lab aim to raise awareness and advocate for action to address overconsumption, poor waste management and pollution. In 2023, they retreived the greatest number of plastic peices ever recorded from this individual (number = 403 pieces; weight = 41.9grams).
Image source: Natural History Museum
Justin Gilligan (Australia) creates a mosaic from the 403 pieces of plastic found inside the digestive tract of a dead flesh-footed shearwater. Justin has been documenting Adrift Lab’s work for several years, often joining them on beach walks at dawn to collect dead chicks. The team brings together biologists from around the world to study the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems. Studies found that three quarters of adult flesh-footed shearwaters breeding on Lord Howe Island – and 100% of fledglings – contained plastic. The team, including a Natural History Museum scientist, discovered it causes scarring to the lining of the digestive tract, a condition called plasticosis.
#13 Winner, Plants and Fungi: Old Man of the Glen by Fortunato Gatto, Italy
Image source: Natural History Museum
Fortunato Gatto comes across a gnarled old birch tree adorned with pale ‘old man’s beard’ lichens. Fortunato often visits the Glen Affric ancient pinewoods alone to lose himself in its intricate, chaotic, timeless beauty. The pale ‘old man’s beard’ lichens indicate that it’s an area of minimal air pollution. Glen Affric is home to the highest concentration of native trees in the UK, making it a vital ecosystem. Analysis of pollen preserved in the layered sediments shows that the forest has stood here for at least 8,300 years.
#14 Winner, Animal Portraits: On Watch By John E Marriott, Canada
Image source: Natural History Museum
John E Marriott frames a lynx resting, with its fully grown young sheltering from the cold wind behind it. John had been tracking this family group for almost a week, wearing snowshoes and carrying light camera gear to make his way through snowy forests. When fresh tracks led him to the group, he kept his distance to make sure he didn’t disturb them. Lynx numbers usually reflect the natural population fluctuations of their main prey species, the snowshoe hare. With climate change reducing snow coverage, giving other predators more opportunities to hunt the hares, hare populations may decline, in turn affecting the lynx population.
#15 Winner, Rising Star Portfolio Award: The Serengeti of the Sea by Sage Ono, USA
A clutch of tubesnout (Aulorhychus flavidus) eggs on display, carefully nestled in the crooks of giant kelp. With the changing seasons of Monterey Bay come all the little signs of new life. The ruby-red eggs and golden kelp in the darkness of the nutrient-rich, summer water take on the appearance of carefully arranged jewellery in a shop window. Looking closer at the ordinary happenings in the environment reveals the meticulous beauty of the natural world. Taken in 2022 in Monterey Bay, USA.
Image source: Natural History Museum
‘Rubies and Gold’ These tube-snout fish eggs will fade in colour as the embryos develop. But for now, they sparkle like gems next to the kelp’s gold, glowing, gas-filled buoyancy aids. The green serrated edges of the kelp fronds complete the simple composition.
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