A cliffside clash between two Nubian ibex, a trio of orcas lining up to "wave-wash" a seal, and the spaceship-like dome of a hovering horseshoe crab were all among the incredible winning shots in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The annual contest draws in photographers of all ages from across the globe whose images are assessed for their originality, narrative, technical excellence, and ethical practice by a panel of industry experts.
Marine biologist and underwater photographer Laurent Ballesta picked up the top honours for his otherworldly shot of a tri-spine horseshoe crab accompanied by a trio of golden trevallies.
The ancient marinerOverall winner and winner of the Portfolio AwardA 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. Laurent Ballesta / Wildlife Photographer of the Year"To see a horseshoe crab so vibrantly alive in its natural habitat, in such a hauntingly beautiful way, was astonishing," says Chair of the jury and editor, Kathy Moran. "We are looking at an ancient species, highly endangered, and also critical to human health. This photo is luminescent."
Threatened by habitat destruction and overfishing for food and for its blue blood, which is used in the development of vaccines, the tri-spine horseshoe crab has seen significant declines across it's range in the brackish and marine waters of Southeast and East Asia. Thankfully, increased protection in some areas like Pangatalan Island in the Philippines, provides hope for the future survival of these ancient creatures.
Laurent is only the second photographer in the competition’s fifty-nine-year history to be awarded the Grand Title award twice, picking up his first accolade in 2021.
Also among the list of winners was seventeen-year-old Carmel Bechler from Israel who was named as the Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2023 for his ‘Owls’ road house’, a dynamic frame of barn owls in an abandoned roadside building.
Owls’ road house byWinner, 15-17 YearsCarmel Bechler discovered several barn owls in an abandoned concrete building near a busy road. Returning to where he had spotted a barn owl the previous year, Carmel and his father used the family car as a hide. He made the most of the natural light and used long exposure times to capture the light trails of passing traffic. Israel has the densest barn-owl population in the world. A national project has provided nesting boxes near agricultural fields, encouraging owls to nest near farmland. Because the owls hunt rodents that eat seeds and crops, this arrangement has reduced the use of pesticides on farms. Carmel Bechler / Wildlife Photographer of the YearThe two Grand Title winners were selected from 19 astounding category winners that showcase the rich diversity of life on Earth.
"Whilst inspiring absolute awe and wonder, this year’s winning images present compelling evidence of our impact on nature – both positive and negative," says Dr Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum. "Global promises must shift to action to turn the tide on nature’s decline."
The flagship Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition featuring the awarded images opens tomorrow at the Natural History Museum in London.
Life on the edgeWinner, Animals in their EnvironmentAmit Eshel witnesses a dramatic cliffside clash between two Nubian ibex. After hiking to a vantage point on the clifftop, Amit slowly crept closer, using a wide-angle lens to set the action of two clashing Nubian ibex against the dramatic backdrop. The battle lasted for about 15 minutes before one male surrendered, and the pair parted without serious injury. In the run-up to the mating season, part of the males’ coat darkens, and their neck muscles thicken. Rivals will raise up on their hind legs and ram their heads together. Their horns sometimes break as they collide. Amit Eshel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Whales making wavesWinner, Behaviour: MammalsBertie Gregory tracks a pod of orcas as they prepare to ‘wave wash’ a Weddell seal. Bertie took two month-long expeditions searching for orcas. ‘We spent every waking minute on the roof of the boat, scanning,’ he says. After battling high winds and freezing conditions, he captured this remarkable behaviour with his drone. These orcas belong to a group that specialises in hunting seals by charging towards the ice, creating a wave that washes the seal into the water. With rising temperatures melting ice floes, seals are spending more time on land, and the behaviour of ‘wave washing’ may disappear. Bertie Gregory / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Alpine exposure Winner, Rising Star Portfolio AwardTo enable an early ascent into ibex territory, Luca had spent a bitterly cold night in a temporary shelter in the French Alps, having skied for six hours across the natural park. Luca thawed his camera with his breath and took the ibex’s portrait. Luca Melcarne / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Hippo nurseryWinner, UnderwaterMike Korostelev reveals a hippopotamus and her two offspring resting in the shallow clear-water lake. For over two years Mike has been visiting the hippos in this lake and knew they were accustomed to his boat. He spent just 20 seconds under water with them – enough time to get this image from a safe distance and to avoid alarming the mother. Hippos produce one calf every two to three years. Their slow-growing population is particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation, drought, and illegal hunting for meat and ivory from their teeth. Mike Korostelev / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The tadpole banquetWinner, Behaviour: Amphibians and ReptilesJuan Jesús Gonzalez Ahumada watches as toad tadpoles feast on a dead fledgling sparrow. The drama unfolded near Juan’s home when a newly fledged sparrow launched itself from a nest on his neighbour’s roof and fell into a nearby pond, where it drowned. Juan had to pick his moment to show the tadpole formation and the sparrow’s eye. Common toad tadpoles have varied diets consisting of algae, vegetation, and tiny swimming invertebrates. As they grow larger, they become more carnivorous so when a banquet like this arrives, they take full advantage. Juan Jesús Gonzalez Ahumada / Wildlife Photographer of the Year / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The wall of wonderWinner, 10 Years and UnderVihaan Talya Vikas watches as an ornamental tree trunk spider prevents its prey from escaping. This was Vihaan’s first visit to the tamarind grove. Fascinated by stories of the Hindu god Krishna, it seemed to Vihaan as if the spider had positioned its web after being entranced by the sound of Krishna’s flute. This spider is an orb weaver, which creates a wheel-shaped web of sticky threads to catch flying insects. As the spider grows, it elongates its web, which entangles anything that lands on it. Vihaan Talya Vikas / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Life on the edgeWinner, Animals in their EnvironmentAmit Eshel witnesses a dramatic cliffside clash between two Nubian ibex. After hiking to a vantage point on the clifftop, Amit slowly crept closer, using a wide-angle lens to set the action of two clashing Nubian ibex against the dramatic backdrop. The battle lasted for about 15 minutes before one male surrendered, and the pair parted without serious injury. In the run-up to the mating season, part of the males’ coat darkens, and their neck muscles thicken. Rivals will raise up on their hind legs and ram their heads together. Their horns sometimes break as they collide. Amit Eshel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Silence for the snake showWinner, Behaviour: BirdsHadrien Lalagüe is rewarded for his patience with a perfect alignment of grey-winged trumpeters watching a boa slither past. Hadrien set up his camera trap by a track in the rainforest surrounding Guiana Space Center. He spent the next six months maintaining the camera kit against high humidity, plastic-munching ants and damage by poachers. This image was his reward. Trumpeters – named for their loud calls – spend most of their time foraging on the forest floor, eating ripe fruits, insects and the occasional small snake. The boa constrictor, more than three metres (9.8 feet) long, could have made a meal of them. Hadrien Lalagüe / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Lights fantasticWinner, Behaviour: Invertebrates Sriram Murali showcases a night sky and a forest illuminated with fireflies. Sriram combined fifty 19-second exposures to show the firefly flashes produced over 16 minutes in the forests near his hometown. The firefly flashes start at twilight, with just a few, before the frequency increases and they pulse in unison like a wave across the forest. Fireflies, which are in fact beetles, are famous for attracting mates using bioluminescence. Darkness is a necessary ingredient in the success of this process. Light pollution affects many nocturnal creatures, but fireflies are especially susceptible. Sriram Murali / Wildlife Photographer of the Year / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Out of the blueWinner, 11-14 YearsEkaterina Bee shares her intimate encounter with some common bottlenose dolphins. Ekaterina’s trip to the west coast of Scotland was filled with wildlife encounters, but bottlenose dolphins were an unexpected surprise. From the boat she composed this image, which highlights the surface patterns on the water created by the dolphins’ movements. Common bottlenose dolphins can be found throughout the world’s oceans except in polar regions. Living in small groups, they are highly social animals, and are one of the top marine predators living in Scottish waters. Ekaterina Bee / Wildlife Photographer of the Year / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Last gaspWinner, Oceans: The Bigger Picture Lennart Verheuvel shows the final moments of a beached orca. Lying on its side in the surf, this orca had only a short time left to live. Initially rescued, it soon was stranded again on the beach and died. A study later revealed that not only was it severely malnourished, it was also extremely sick. Research shows that orcas in European waters have the world’s highest concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls. These banned chemicals can persist for many years in marine food webs, weakening immune systems and reducing breeding success in whales, porpoises and dolphins. Lennart Verheuvel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
The art of courtshipWinner, Natural ArtistryRachel Bigsby frames a gannet pair against the guano-painted curves of sandstone cliffs. From her boat in turbulent sea swell, Rachel realised that achieving her vision of showcasing gannets set against the towering cliffs would be tricky. But as the boat aligned with the rocks, she spotted this pair ‘isolated on a lower ledge, intertwining their necks and framed by streaks of guano’. Each summer the Isle of Noss hosts more than 22,000 northern gannets, which return to breed on the ledges carved by the elements. This species was hardest hit by the 2022 avian flu outbreak. Rachel Bigsby / Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Face of the forestWinner, Animal PortraitsVishnu Gopal records the moment a lowland tapir steps cautiously out of the swampy Brazilian rainforest. Finding hoofprints on a forest track near his campsite, Vishnu waited nearby. An hour later, the tapir appeared. Using a long exposure and torchlight to capture texture and movement, Vishnu framed the tapir’s side-turned head as it emerged from the forest. Lowland tapirs rely on the forest for their diet of fruit and other vegetation and in turn the tapirs act as seed dispersers. This important relationship is threatened by habitat loss, illegal hunting and traffic collisions. Vishnu Gopal / Wildlife Photographer of the YearWildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London