From Tadpoles to River Dolphins: Wildlife Photographer of the Year Showcases Breathtaking Images of Nature

A magical photo of a swarm of western toad tadpoles rose to the top in the Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. 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 the amphibians. It was picked from a record-breaking 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories.

Shane was 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 when he took the photo. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year writes, “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.”

Also, among the winners is Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas from Germany, who was awarded Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 for his close up photo of a tiny springtail encountering slime mould.

Alexis says, “Springtails and slime molds are two of my favorite macro photography subjects, so it’s always fun to get a chance to include both in one photo. I found these under a log in my local forest in Berlin, Germany and was able to get a focus stack of 36 images before the springtail started moving.” He employed the technique because springtails can jump many times their body length in a split second. Springtails are found in almost every corner of the globe as one of the most abundant of all macroscopic animals. They are vital for improving soil health by feeding on microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi, helping organic matter to decompose.

These two astounding photos are just two of the of the spectacular winning photos in this year’s competition. Take a look at them below:

Australian photographer Jannico Kelk won the Adult Impact Award with his image ‘Hope for the Ninu’. The greater bilby, a small marsupial also referred to as the ninu, was brought to near extinction through predation by introduced foxes and cats. Jannico’s image showcases a greater bilby in a fenced reserve, a method that has eradicated predators so that the greater bilby can thrive.

The Young Impact Award was given to Liwia Pawłowska from Poland, who entered the competition’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year category with her image ‘Recording by Hand’. This photograph spotlights a relaxed common whitethroat as part of bird ringing, a technique that aids conservation efforts by recording a bird’s length, sex, condition and age to help scientists monitor populations and track migratory patterns.

‘Among the Trees’. Photojournalist Story Award. 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.

“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 took extra care not to make any undue noises which could disturb this bond,” writes photographer Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod. His photo won the Behaviour: Mammals category.

Alberto Román Gómez, who is 10 years old,  contrasts a delicate stonechat bird with a hefty chain. Watching from the window of his father’s car at the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, Alberto found this young bird tricky to photograph as it was quickly flying back and forth, gathering insects. To Alberto, the stonechat displayed a sense of ownership, as if it were a young guardian overseeing its territory.”

Winner of the Urban Wildlife category for his image “Tiger in Town,” 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.

Matthew Smith carefully photographs a curious leopard seal beneath the Antarctic ice. Matthew won the Underwater category for the image of his first encounter with a leopard seal. The young seal made several close, curious passes. He said, “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.

Karine Aigner recognises the skin of a yellow anaconda as it coils itself around the snout of a yacaré caiman. She won the category Amphibians and Reptiles for her image ‘Wetlands Wrestle.’

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 horseflies that are known to target reptiles.

A Diet of Deadly Plastic by Justin Gilligan highlights Oceans: The Bigger Picture. Justin 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.

John E Marriott, winner of the Animal Portraits category, 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.

Jiří Hřebíček creates an impressionistic vision of this perching carrion crow in his photo that won the Natural Artistry category. 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.

Winner in the Behavior Birds category, 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 speeds of more than 300 kilometres per hour (186 miles per hour).

Ingo Arndt documents the efficient dismemberment of a blue ground beetle by red wood ants in his winning image in the Behavior: Invertebrates category. ‘Full of ant’ is how Ingo described himself after lying next to the ants’ nest for just a few minutes. Ingo watched as the red wood ants carved an already dead beetle into pieces small enough to fit through the entrance to their nest. Much of the red wood ants’ nourishment comes from honeydew secreted by aphids, but they also need protein. They are capable of killing insects and other invertebrates much larger than themselves through sheer strength in numbers.

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.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. Visit their website to find out more about the annual competition and details on the yearly exhibition of the winners.