All you nature lovers gather around! The 52nd annual ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ (WPY) competition has recently released a preview of this year’s finalists. A curious fox in an urban area, a hungry hornbill eating a termite, mayflies swarming around under a starry night sky… These spectacular images and a few more stood out for the judges as the best of the best photograhy by wildlife photographers.
It all started in 1965. There were about 500 entries back then, but now, more than fifty years later, it attracted almost 50,000 of them from professionals and amateurs from 95 countries. All images are rated in three categories: originality, creativity, and technical excellence. The annual ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year’ (WPY 52) exhibition will be on display from the 21st of October at Natural History Museum, London.
Sometimes it’s the fishing boats that look for the killer whales and humpbacks, hoping to locate the shoals of herring that migrate to these Arctic Norwegian waters. But in recent winters, the whales have also started to follow the boats. Here a large male killer whale feeds on herring that have been squeezed out of the boats closing fishing net. He has learnt the sound that this type of boat makes when it retrieves its gear and homed in on it. The relationship would seem to be a win-win one, but not always.
Nosy neighbour by Sam Hobson (UK)
Sam knew exactly who to expect when he set his camera on the wall one summer’s evening in a suburban street in Bristol, the UK’s famous fox city. He wanted to capture the inquisitive nature of the urban red fox in a way that would pique the curiosity of its human neighbours about the wildlife around them.
Photograph: Sam Hobson/2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Termite tossing by Willem Kruger (South Africa)
Termite after termite after termite — using the tip of its massive beak-like forceps to pick them up, the hornbill would flick them in the air and then swallow them. Foraging beside a track in South Africa’s semi-arid Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, the southern yellow-billed hornbill was so deeply absorbed in termite snacking that it gradually worked its way to within 6 metres (19ft) of where Willem sat watching from his vehicle.
Photograph: Willem Kruger/2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Splitting the catch by Audun Rikardsen (Norway)
Sometimes it’s the fishing boats that look for the killer whales and humpbacks, hoping to locate the shoals of herring that migrate to these Arctic Norwegian waters. But in recent winters, the whales have also started to follow the boats. Here a large male killer whale feeds on herring that have been squeezed out of the boat’s closing fishing net. He has learnt the sound that this type of boat makes when it retrieves its gear and homed in on it. The relationship would seem to be a win-win one, but not always
Photograph: Audun Rikardsen/2016 Wildlife Photographer of the Year