What almost looks like an open hand is an aerial of an iceberg, the 'palm of the hand,' upon which a lone Weddell seal sits while trying to avoid a group of orcas surrounding the iceberg, the 'fingers' of the hand.

13 stunning photos from this year’s best wildlife photographers

From a delicate sack of salamander eggs to a forest illuminated by fireflies, these winning images from an annual competition emphasize the importance of conservation.

National Geographic explorer Bertie Gregory captured a group of orcas that specialize in hunting seals by charging towards the ice, creating a wave that washes the seal into the water. With rising temperatures melting ice sheets and seals are spending more time on land, this behavior of ‘wave washing’ may disappear.
Photograph by Bertie Gregory, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
ByAllie Yang
October 10, 2023
7 min read

From highlighting a quiet moment of peace between mother and child, to a battle between predators and prey in frigid waters, images from some of the best photographers around the world are showcased in the U.K.’s Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Whether it’s capturing wildlife that needs our help or opening our eyes to the impact of human development, photography in this competition aims to help nurture respect for the planet, advance scientific research, and spread awareness of environmental destruction.

Several National Geographic photographers were honored this year for their work showcasing the tenuous position of animals in a world altered by humans. Below, see our favorite pictures from this year’s contest and check out the full list of winners here.

A tight view of a bison, showing part of its face and torso, as it kicks up a flurry of snow.
Max Waugh captured this bison barreling through the snow in Yellowstone National Park. Bison once roamed across North America, with populations of 50 to 60 million at the start of the 1800s—then less than a thousand at the end of the century. Today, their numbers are slowly increasing with careful conservation efforts.
Photograph by Max Waugh, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A backlit mushroom releasing a cloud of spores in the forest
Parasol mushrooms like this one in Mount Olympus, Greece, release billions of spores from the gills under their caps. The spores travel in the air, and some will land where there is moisture and food, enabling them to grow networks under the forest floor. Photographer Agorastos Papatsanis carefully took this photo in the rain, which helps highlight the spores in the image.
Photograph by Agorastos Papatsanis, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A chub underwater, surrounded by a school of smaller red fish, is carrying a rectangular pebble in its mouth.
Isaac Szabo photographed different species gathered near a river chub’s nest in a freshwater stream in Virginia’s Whitetop Laurel Creek. During springtime spawning, male river chubs sometimes carry rocks and pebbles as far as 33 feet to form a mound where eggs can be sheltered from currents and predators. Other minnow species also use their nests to keep their eggs safe. 
Photograph by Isaac Szabo, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The grey-winged backs of trumpeters as they stand in line watching a boa constrictor slither past.
Hadrien Lalagüe took six months to capture the perfect image of grey-winged trumpeter birds watching a boa constrictor slither past. In the rainforest surrounding Guiana Space Center, French Guiana, trumpeters spend most of their time foraging on the forest floor eating ripe fruits, insects, and the occasional small snake. This boa constrictor, however, might’ve eaten them.
Photograph by Hadrien Lalagüe, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A dense jungle is broken by a wide corridor of bulldozed trees.
In this image, Mexican photographer Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar shows how a new cross-country tourist railway line devastates the natural landscape in Paamul, Quintana Roo. The railway will bring economic benefits to southeast Mexico, but it also fragments the ecosystems, threatens protected reserves and archaeological sites, and impacts Indigenous peoples by destroying their land.
Photograph by Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A lowland tapir stepping cautiously out of a rainforest at night.
Vishnu Gopal captured this lowland tapir cautiously stepping out of the rainforest near Tapiraí, São Paulo, Brazil. Lowland tapirs rely on the forest for their diet of fruit and other vegetation and in turn, the tapirs keep plant populations healthy by dispersing seeds through droppings. This important relationship is threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting and traffic collisions.
Photograph by Vishnu Gopal, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A tri-spine horseshoe crab moves slowly over the mud. Its golden protective carapace hides 12 appendages. Above the horseshoe crab, a trio of juvenile golden trevallies are poised to dart down for edible morsels ploughed up by its passage.
Marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer Laurent Ballesta took this image of a tri-spine horseshoe crab in the waters of Pangatalan Island in the Philippines, where they are protected. The species has survived for more than 100 million years but is now endangered, in part because its blood plays a critical role in vaccine development. Read more here. The trio of small fish (called golden trevallies or golden kingfish) follow the crab to see if it will kick up something edible.
Photograph by Laurent Ballesta, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A dramatic cliffside clash between two Nubian ibex
Amit Eshel captured this dramatic cliffside clash between two Nubian ibex in the Zin Desert, Israel. The battle lasted for about 15 minutes before one surrendered, and both parted without serious injury. Before mating season, males fight by raising themselves on their hind legs and ramming their heads together, sometimes breaking their horns as they collide.
Photograph by Amit Eshel, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
A young hippopotamus huddles close to its mother underwater, while an even younger hippopotamus is partially seen behind the mother and juvenile.
Mike Korostelev has been visiting the hippopotamuses in this lake near Kosi Bay, South Africa, for two years. He spent just 20 seconds under water to get this image from a safe distance, without alarming the mother and her two calves. Hippos produce one calf every two to three years. Their slow-growing population is particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation, drought, and illegal hunting for their meat and ivory.
Photograph by Mike Korostelev, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
An aerial view shows the carcass of an antelope stuck in muddy shallow water, where a group of catfish group together nearby while others have begun to feed on the carcass.
Piotr Neskrecki captured a group of African sharptooth catfish scavenging from a waterbuck that died after getting stuck in the mud—illustrating the cyclical nature of life at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Sharptooth catfish are omnivorous and can survive for several days out of water thanks to an air-breathing organ in their gills. If they do eventually perish while they wait for the rains to return, they provide food for other species.
Photograph by Piotr Naskrecki, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
An underwater view of a clump of spotted salamander eggs resting on a bed of sphagnum moss in a vernal pool.
Steven Johnson highlights a lump of spotted salamander eggs resting on a bed of sphagnum moss in a vernal pool near Shenandoah National Park. Shallow seasonal pools like these are ideal amphibian nurseries because they’re safe from predators like fish. But these habitats are impacted by environmental change: Less predictable spring rains are causing pools to dry up before the young salamanders can fully develop and live on land.
Photograph by Steven Johnson, Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The outlines of trees glow yellow from the lights of fireflies.
Darkness is essential for fireflies to find a mate, making them especially vulnerable to light pollution. An estimated 83 percent of humans live under light-polluted skies. Sriram Murali showcases a forest illuminated with fireflies at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve in India.
Photograph by Sriram Murali, Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Get science-backed tips to nurture your mind and body

Go Further

Animals

Environment

History & Culture

Science

Travel