Eyecatchers Snakerpillar

Sphinx hawk ( triptolemus) caterpillar, snake mimic species, Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, Maijuna, Rio Napo, Peru.

Impersonating intimidating or dangerous is one of the many tricks that prey species use to survive. One of the most remarkable examples of this is the caterpillar of the sphinx hawk moth, which can make itself look like a viper. When disturbed, it puffs up its head with fluid, and thrashes it back and forth, mim- icking the strike behaviour of a snake. The disguise, complete with eyespots, is so effective that it doesn’t just fool birds, monkeys and other predators. It also frightens some humans who encounter it in the forests of Central and South America.

Photographer: Mark Bowler Image number: 1612088 Shark Nursery

Lemon shark pup (Negaprion brevirostris) in mangrove forest which acts as a nursery for juveniles of this species. Eleuthera, Bahamas.

Photographer quote: “On the tiny island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas, lemon shark pups take refuge in a small creek. The clear, flowing water is lined with mangrove trees, keeping the pups hidden from larger sharks. Lemon sharks are the first shark species proven to return to their birthplace in order to breed and give rise to the next generation (a strategy called natal philopatry, which is also observed in salmon and sea turtles). Over the last 7 years I have spent hundreds of hours camping out on a beach at the edge of the creek. The area isn’t without its challenges. You can only shoot at high tide and you are constantly battling the sun and the . It can take several hours or, sometimes days, for the sharks to be comfortable enough with you before they come close to your camera, so I was delighted when this pup approached me through the mangrove leaves.” Photographer: Shane Gross Image number: 1617285; 1617284 Flight of the Ray

Munk’s pygmy devil ray / Munk’s mobula (Mobula munkiana) large school from the air with one leaping out of the water, Baja Califor- nia,

Photographer quote:

“Munk’s pygmy devil rays are a filter-feeding species of fish close- ly related to sharks. They measure about a metre across, which makes them the smallest species of all the devil rays, but when they congregate in massive schools - like this one in Baja Califor- nia, Mexico - they more than make up for their size! A gathering like this is not a common sight, and scientists still don’t know why the rays come together in such thousands. It could be for mating purposes, or it could be driven by the ecology of their prey. Even more perplexing are the leaps and somersaults they make out of the water (giving them the local nickname ‘Flying Tortillas’). One theory is that these aerial acrobatics help dislodge parasites, but it could also be a form of communication. By slap- ping the surface of the water, the rays create a distinct acoustic pulse, which could be a signal for other rays to join the party. As more and more rays join the swirling mass, they all swim together in the same direction to create a vortex. You can see the whirlpool they create from the boat, but the sheer magnitude of the shoal can only be seen from the air. This drone image - complete with a leaping ray - tells a whole other story to the one I witnessed at sea level.”

Photographer: Mark Carwardine Image number: 1612026 Strange Bedfellows

Peruvian Tarantula (Pamphobeteus sp.) adult, walking over Hum- ming (Chiasmocleis royi) without preying on it. Los Amigos Biological Station, Madre de Dios, Amazonia, Peru.

Photographer quote:

“Life is not always easy for a frog living in the rainforests of South America. There are predators everywhere - snakes and spiders and even other - which hunt their prey under the cover of night. But there is one frog that has developed a peculiar rela- tionship with a predator: the dotted humming frog (Chiasmocleis ventrimaculata), which lives, often in good numbers, near or inside the burrows of tarantulas. The spiders tolerate the and never attack them, but they do hunt and consume other amphibians passing outside of their burrows. So what’s going on? This curious relationship is thought to be a case of mutualism, where two species interact and each benefits from the other. For the frogs, living in close proximity to a neighbourly tarantula has an obvious advantage: the spiders are like personal bodyguards, seeing off snakes and other intruders that might approach the burrow. But what do the tarantulas gain in return for this protection? Sci- entists have theorised that the frogs, which forage on insects, help to keep the burrow free of parasites (such as fly larvae) as well as dispatching ants that would eat the spider’s eggs. This, it seems, is reward enough to stop the tarantulas from turning their cohabitants into an easy meal.”

Photographer: Emanuele Biggi Image number: 1613276 I’m All Ears

Long-eared jerboa (Euchoreutes naso) digging, South Gobi Desert, Mongolia. June.

The comically proportioned long-eared jerboa has some of the big- gest ears on the planet — relative to its body size. Each ear is two thirds the length of its body, giving these mouse-like creatures one of the largest ear-to-body ratios in the kingdom. The reason for this bizarre adaptation has to do with where the jer- boa lives: in the deserts of north-west China and southern Mongo- lia, summer temperatures can reach as high as 40°C. Having large ears helps facilitate heat loss, allowing the jerboa to stay cool when temperatures rise. Unsurprisingly, they also have excellent hearing, which helps them track down their prey when night descends (as well as listen out for hunting owls).

Photographer: Valeriy Maleev Image number: 1603493; 1603492 Whiskers

School of young Striped catfish (Plotosus lineatus). Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Lembeh Strait, Molucca Sea.

Photographer quote:

“The comical faces of these young catfish, gathered together for their own protection, never fail to make me smile. This was an easy image to envisage, but much harder to execute. The catfish were not so co-operative and I had to wait a long time until they were all lined up in a convenient formation. Unusually, these catfish were living in very shallow water, so shallow that if I stood up my head was out of the water. The shallow depth gave me plenty of time to capture the precise composition I was after.”

Photographer: Alex Mustard Image number: 1612320 Transformation

Frozen bog pool system, aerial view. Endla Nature Reserve, Joge- vamaa, Central Estonia. December.

Photographer quote:

“I have visited the bogs of Central Estonia many times, but despite their familiarity, I can still find things that surprise me. Winter is a time of transition, when the bogs freeze over and the landscape is totally transformed. It was cold when I took this image, I had to keep the drone batteries close to my body to ensure they would still work when I reached the take-off spot. The weather had been changeable, with temperatures fluctuating from freezing to above zero. The subsequent cycle of thawing and freezing had created amazing colours in the bog pool ice that I’d never seen before.”

Photographer: Sven Zacek Image number: 1614933 Self Defence

Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) hoglets curled up in a ball, age 10 days, one uncurling from ball. France.

Photographer quote:

“Hedgehogs roll up by using their orbicularis muscle, which acts in a similar way to the drawstring on a bag. From the age of 5-6 days, hoglets can contract this muscle, transforming themselves into a spiny ball. At the same time, they tuck in their heads, tail and legs, to protect the vulnerable parts of their bodies. These hoglets were just 10 days old and still vulnerable. Their spines are soft and still growing, no match for a fox or a dog. Usually, hoglets remain in the nest until they’re about three weeks old. By that time, their spines are harder and sharper, providing more effective protection.”

Photographer: Klein & Hubert Image number: 1618651 Thunder Cat

Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) walking at night, with monsoon clouds and lightning. Kanha National Park, Central India. Domi- nant male (T29)

Photographer quote:

“In the dense forests of Kanha National Park, India, finding an area where tigers can be photographed against open sky is not easy. I chose to place my camera trap on the mud embankment of a waterhole, and set it up for a long exposures to capture the am- bience of the night, when tigers are patrolling their territory. This image shows the dominant male of the area on a stormy night. The rainy season was approaching and monsoon clouds were build- ing-up in the sky. By pure luck, the tiger tripped the camera at the same moment that lightning cracked the sky.”

Photographer: Yashpal Rathore Image number: 1626311 Moss Mimic

Bush cricket or katydid (Tettigoniidae) with spines, camouflaged amongst moss. Forest interior of mid-altitude montane rainforest, Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru.

Photographer quote:

“Tropical montane rainforests, such as this one in Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru, are characterised by an abundance of mosses and lichens, growing on the ground and vegetation. A bush cricket (or katydid) looking to blend into this moist, high-altitude environ- ment therefore succeeds when, it too, looks like moss. I wanted to show the insect in the context of its broader forest environment, to show how it not only blends into the moss on the branch, but also the forest itself. This was achieved by using a very close-focusing fisheye lens. The challenge here was to get the lens into the correct position with- out disturbing the insect, as the front element of the lens is only around 30mm away from it. Once I was in position, I then needed to tackle the lighting issues, as the forest understorey was very gloomy. I was able to use subtle fill-in flash with a soft box and had to be careful that the camera and lens did not cast a shadow over the katydid when the flash fired.”

Photographer: Nick Garbutt Image number: 01608657 Harassment

Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) aggressive interaction with Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) and chick, Atka Bay, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica.

Photographer quote:

“During the Antarctic winter, when harsh blizzards blow and tem- peratures reach a brutal -50°C, the emperor penguins of Atka Bay have only themselves for company. No other species braves the open ice at this time. In summer however, this situation chang- es dramatically and lots of other animals return to the Antarctic shorelines in order to take advantage of the rich ocean waters. Adelie penguins are amongst these “tourists” and have quite a different character than their much taller emperor counterparts. Adelies will mingle with the emperor colony and wait for oppor- tunities to steal food from the growing chicks. When the doting parents regurgitate food for the youngsters, some of it inevitably falls to the ground, which is what the adelies are waiting for. They seize any opportunity to pick up the leftovers. Sometimes, they grow impatient and start to harass the chick for no obvious reason. This results in a strong reaction from the parent! Nevertheless, the scavenging strategy seems to pay off for the adelies and they rare- ly seem troubled by the conflict. In fact, some of the time I got the feeling that they actually enjoyed causing turmoil in the otherwise very calm emperor penguin colony!”

Photographer: Stefan Christmann Image number: 1620083 Botanic Doodling

Leaf miner in an oak leaf, New England, USA, October.

Photographer quote:

“Leaf miners are the larvae of several different types of insect, in- cluding flies, beetles and . Adults lay their eggs on, or in, the leaves and the larvae then hatch and feed on the leaf, tunnelling into it – hence the name ‘miner’. In this image, the larvae belongs to a moth – one of the most com- mon insects to infect and damage oak leaves in New England. By spending its entire larval stage between the surfaces of the leaf, this tiny creature is afforded protection from predators. Once it has fed enough, it wraps itself in a silk cocoon and emerges as an adult, just a few millimetres long. In order to photograph it, I looked for leaves showing clear signs of damage and then flattened and clamped the leaves to a small LED light panel. Backlighting allowed me to show leaf cellular structure and the details of insect damage, especially leaf miner feeding channels which would be obscured by front lighting. At high magnification I could see the miner’s head moving back and forth as it ate through the leaf, leaving a transparent skeleton and creating a frass (excrement)-filled feeding channel behind it. The tissues within the leaf are much more digestible than the tough- ened surfaces and, over time, leaf miners appear to ‘swim’ through the leaves resulting in a vast range of sinuous patterns often called ‘botanic doodling’. To many people leaf miners are pests but to me they are artists and the intricate trails that they leave behind deserve to be admired.”

Photographer: Paul Williams Image number: 1611451 Red Alert

Scientist using dye tracing techniques as part of a study to mea- sure the speed of the Russell Glacier, near Kangerlussuag, Green- land.

Photographer quote:

“PhD scientist Ian Bartholomew from the University of Edinburgh is pictured here pouring fluorescent dye into waters beside Russell Glacier in western Greenland. The study looked at how increasing quantities of melt water (caused by climate change) are affecting the glacier’s speed - that is, the rate at which it moves towards the ocean. Downstream, Bartholomew and his colleagues were able to detect the dye in the water, even at very weak concentrations, al- lowing them to calculate the volume of meltwater coming from the glacier. Readings such as this are important, because the Russell Glacier - like most in Greenland - has sped up considerably in the last 20 years. Meltwater seeping through crevasses and moulins (vertical shafts) finds its way to the base of the glacier, reducing the drag between the ice and the bedrock. This lubricating effect accelerates the glacier’s movement, and increases the rate at which it deposits ice into the ocean. Bartholomew’s study conclu- sively showed that the speed of the glacier was directly linked to the volume of meltwater draining from its ‘snout’. Working around glaciers - especially rapidly melting ones - can be dangerous. On one occasion, a section of the glacier collapsed, sending arm- chair-sized chunks of ice whistling over our heads. I hope that this image helps to convey how critical climate change science and research is, and how vulnerable the world’s glaciers and ice sheets are to ever more rapid global warming.”

Photographer: Ashley Cooper Image number: 1596772 Ice Cave

Man at mouth of an ice cave beneath Vatnajokull Glacier, Iceland. March.

Photographer quote:

“Iceland has many unique and spectacular landscapes, but noth- ing quite compares to entering an ice cave beneath the Vatnajokull Glacier. This can only be done during the winter months when it is safe to enter the caves, and I always do so with an experienced local guide. Inside the ice caves you will find a magical world with beautiful natural patterns and fascinating lighting effects. From a photographer’s point of view, one of the main difficulties is show- ing the scale of the ice caves. Without a recognisable feature there is nothing to show how large, or how small, they actually are. For this reason, once I found a composition I liked, I asked my guide to stand within the scene to provide both a focal point and a sense of scale.”

Photographer: Guy Edwardes Image number: 1610482 Lucky Escape

Jaguar (Panthera onca) male, hunting Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris). The capybara jumping away has cut the nose of the Jaguar with its toenail. Cuiaba River, Pantanal Matogrossense National Park, Pantanal, Brazil.

Photographer quote:

“The dry season in Brazil’s Pantanal, when animals congregate around water sources, is the best time for seeing jaguars. I was fol- lowing this large male in a boat as he hunted along the river bank. He disappeared for a while, and I waited for quite some time, watching through my camera for him to make another appearance. As soon as I detected movement, I began shooting. The action took place so quickly, and my motor drive was working so hard, that I didn’t see anything other than the initial movement and a splash. It wasn’t until I downloaded the images later that evening that I understood what I’d photographed. Jumping into the water is a capybara, the world’s largest rodent. I didn’t see it before the attack. Capybara have an excellent sense of smell, so this one probably caught the jaguar’s scent and made a dive for the water: a decision which ultimately saved its life. Jag- uars stand very little chance of catching capybara in the water, and the cat knew better than to pursue his prey any further.”

Photographer: Jeff Foott Image number: 1603265 Tide Pool

Seaweed in tide pool, Mangurstadh Beach, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, October.

Photographer quote:

“On the island of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, I discovered this multicoloured wrack (a type of marine alga) in a tidal pool. Most of the wrack was submerged, with only the spherical air blad- ders breaking the water’s surface. These buoyant structures allow the wrack to float, maximising its exposure to sunlight. I used a polarising filter to eliminate reflections and reveal the patterns both above and below water. To me, the photograph is reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Photographer: Theo Bosboom Image number: 1608923 Invasion

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) in aquarium with purple lighting.

Photographer quote:

“This image, taken in Paris Aquarium, mirrors what is happening in the world’s oceans. While many marine creatures are suffering from rising ocean temperatures, and falling oxygen levels, jellyfish are doing exactly the opposite. They thrive in warm, oxygen-de- pleted water, and even take advantage of ocean pollution, scav- enging on the remains of fish in so-called ‘dead zones.’ In recent years, jellyfish numbers have exploded across the globe. They have forced the shut-down of nuclear power plants in Scotland and Sweden, as well as disrupting fish farming and sea-bed mining operations. The growth of jellyfish populations at the expense of other marine life is a stark warning about the ways pollution and climate change can affect the health of our oceans.”

Photographer: Stéphane Granzotto Image number: 1600438 Abseiling Macaque

Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiata) female descending a rocky crevasse . Hampi, Karnataka, India.

Photographer quote:

“This female bonnet macaque was photographed at the archaeo- logical site of Hampi, South India. History tells of a once-prosper- ous city, boasting numerous temples and attracting traders from far and wide. Today, it is a ruin, spread out over 16 square miles of uplands defined by towering granite structures. We heard about a centuries-old ‘roosting site’ for bonnet ma- caques, set amidst ancient boulders and cliffs. Erosion over millions of years has created many crevasses where the monkeys shelter overnight from predators, abseiling up and down at dusk and dawn. Every morning, for several weeks, we watched the macaques take the same route down from their sleeping crevasse at the top of a granite boulder, even descending in the same order. With such sheer vertical surfaces, it was hard to imagine how a human could move through a crevasse this way. But such is the agility and confidence of the macaques, that they often moved faster than we could photograph them. On this occasion however, a female took a few seconds out of her descent to look out on the dawning of a new day.”

Photographer: Fiona Rogers Image number: 1607017 Where the Sea Feeds the Desert

Lava lizard (Microlophus peruvianus) juvenile peering out of eye of dead sea lion. Paracas National Reserve, Peru.

Photographer quote:

“The Paracas desert, found along the Peruvian coast, is far from being a true desert. Life exists here in abundance: from flamingos, pelicans and penguins to ghost crabs, marine otters and sea lions - all supported by the nutrient-rich waters of the South Pacific. As I was walking along the beach at the edge of the reserve, I discovered the rotting carcass of a Southern sea lion. As many as 15,000 of these marine mammals live on the shores of the Para- cas, some of which succumb to illness, injury or mass die-offs trig- gered by ocean warming events. When I spotted the lizard peeping out of the hollow eye cavity I knew I’d found something interesting. Dead sea lions provide food for tiny, necrophagous beetles, which in turn feed the lizards and other small predators including geck- os, scorpions and spiders. These species are then preyed upon by larger predators, such as birds and Peruvian foxes. This image illustrates how life in the Paracas depends on the sea. It’s the ocean, first and foremost, that feeds the desert.”

Photographer: Emanuele Biggi Image number: 1611764 Mud Wrestling

Great blue spotted mudskipper (Boleophthalmus pectinirostris), two males in territorial fight. On mud at low tide, Kyushu Island, Japan. August.

Mudskippers are amphibious fish, known for their ability to survive both in and out of water. Their pectoral fins function a lot like legs, allowing them to “skip” - or sometimes leap - around the tidal mudflats where they dig their burrows. During the breeding season the males develop brightly coloured spots to allure the females. In this image, two males are engaged in a territorial dispute. Fights between neighbours are common- place and usually begin with the rivals raising the dorsal fins on their backs. If that doesn’t settle the argument, they soon engage in a contest of gaping and charge or pounce at each other with open mouths.

Photographer: Rémi Masson Image number: 1613955 The Huddle

Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) breeding colony, males huddling on sea ice during polar night, incubating eggs, ice shelf in background. Atka Bay, Antarctica. July.

Photographer quote:

“This photograph of an emperor penguin huddle in Atka Bay, Ant- arctica, illustrates the power of teamwork. Emperor penguins have chosen one of the most extreme on the planet, where winter temperatures plummet to -45°C, wind speeds can reach up to 200km/h and for many weeks during the Antarctic winter, the sun never rises. Still, they manage to survive and even raise their offspring in such conditions. The huddle is their secret weapon against the cold. By sticking together in large aggregations they share their body heat with their nearest neighbors and stabilize their own core temperature in the process. For me, the hardest part of taking the image was the cold itself. I knew that I had to use a tilt-shift lens to get enough depth of field in order to convey the scale of this natural spectacle. Tilt-Shift lenses, however, are quite tricky to use and usually require fine motor skills, which meant taking my gloves off. The cold stung like needles piercing my fingertips while I was carefully focusing, tilting and refocusing the lens until I had achieved my desired depth of field. With only the twilight of the polar night in the distance, this image really shows the beauty, but also the amazing hardship of the emperors’ lives.”

Photographer: Stefan Christmann Image number: 1619872 Lord Toad

Common toads (Bufo bufo) mating surrounded by strings of toad- spawn. Ain, Alps, France.

Photographer quote:

“This image was taken in a lake in the French Alps during toad breeding season. The great difficulty was to approach without disturbing the fine sediments at the bottom of the lake. At the slightest movement, the scene would disappear under a cloud of particles. I also had to be careful of the male toads which, by reflex, would grab onto my underwater housing, my hands or my head, just as they do with females. This male toad, waiting for a female among the long strings of spawn, somehow reminded me of fairy tale prince in a ballroom.”

Photographer: Rémi Masson Image number: 1596056 Flight Plan

Beautiful demoiselle damselfly (Calopteryx virgo) male, Peerds- bos, Brasschaat, Belgium. July.

Photographer quote:

“Damselflies are creatures of habit. If you watch them for long enough, you can see that they tend to hunt from fixed bases. After catching small insects in flight, they will return to the same branch or leaf tip. I waded knee-deep in shallow water and positioned my tripod and mounted camera near such a perch. I pre-focused the lens, providing enough space in the frame for a landing damselfly, and then retreated a few meters, with a remote control shutter release in hand. It took time and a reasonable number of trials before I got good results. The most crucial elements were a good reaction time, a camera that could shoot at least 10 frames per second, and a shutter speed of 1/2000 second or faster. Wind is almost always the biggest obstacle to this type of pho- tography. But on this particular day, a continual light breeze was helpful since it made the landing route of the damselflies even more predictable.”

Photographer: Bernard Castelein Image number: 1606587 Life in a Washtub

Giant mottled eel (Anguilla marmorata) in river with villagers wash- ing clothes in background. Ambon, Maluku Archipelago, Indone- sia. Banda Sea, tropical west Pacific Ocean.

Photographer quote:

“These freshwater eels live in a small stream in a village in Ambon, Indonesia. The pool that they live in is actually used by the local villagers for washing their clothes but the locals like the eels being there and even feed them, rather like we feed ducks in our local ponds. The eels live in crevices around the edge of the pool and come out to feed when the locals are washing their clothes. I want- ed this photo to focus on the eel, but to also tell this unusual story, so included the villagers doing their laundry in the background.”

Photographer: Alex Mustard Image number: 1601418 Over the Ravine

Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) walking along fallen trunk of old Beech (Fagus sylvatica) tree, Coppo del Principe old-growth beech forest in autumn. Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park / Parco Nazi- onale d’Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise UNESCO World Heritage Site Italy. October.

Photographer quote:

“The Centuries-old beechwoods of the Central Apennines in Italy are the oldest in Europe, home to trees that have lived for almost 600 years. This fox was using a fallen tree to cross a narrow ravine in the old-growth forest of Abruzzo National Park. By doing so, it also tripped the invisible beam of my camera sensor, resulting in this image. Camera trap photography rarely yields good results. It is a very time-consuming, failure-prone technique. However, when it works, it allows for a unique insight into the secret lives of ani- mals.”

Photographer: Bruno D’Amicis Image number: 1615237 After the Party

Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) living in disused build- ing, Thailand.

Photographer quote:

“I followed this troop of long-tailed macaques into a disused building in Thailand and found them playing on a decrepit couch. One of them was reclining against it, and the scene looked like the end of a drunken party: the flat devastated, the couch destroyed, and the party-goer slumped on the floor. These macaques are tolerated by local people because of their religious status. They are believed by some to be the descendents of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god and one of the most cele- brated and worshipped figures in Indian religion. The macaques have adapted well to their urban lifestyle and show little fear of humans. While I was busy taking pictures, one of them jumped on my back!”

Photographer: Cyril Ruoso Image number: 1604438 Coral Forest

Flower tree soft corals (Umbellulifera sp.), Triton Bay, near Kaima- na, West Papua, Indonesia.

Photographer quote:

“Flower Tree Soft Corals are rarely seen and are a special highlight of diving in Triton Bay, one of the remotest places in Indonesia and unspoilt by development. Even there, they occur only on a few sites. This particular expanse, found at a depth of 20 metres, was blossoming across a sloping plateau with a sandy, rubble-strewn sea bed. It was a magical and mysterious place. I circled the area, looking for the most perfect specimens and clusters, choosing the tallest ones and photographing them from a low angle, to make the crown of each coral stand out against the open water. Other clusters I encountered had whitish columns, but these were pink. To bring out the striking colour I used a diffused flash, which also gives the semi-translucent tissues of the corals an ethereal glow.”

Photographer: Linda Pitkin Image number: 1588789 Incoming

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) close up of juvenile in flight, Fla- tanger, Norway, October.

Photographer quote:

“I was sailing around the coast of Flatanger, Central Norway, hoping to photograph white-tailed sea eagles, when a flock of gulls caught my attention. Gulls are opportunists: curious, daring and smart. This flock was no different and followed the boat for the entre duration of the trip. That didn’t make them easy to photo- graph, though. The birds were lightning-fast and often too far away to compose a satisfactory image. Sometimes, one would land on the boat or even on my head! Anticipating this, I used a wide angle lens to photograph an incoming bird. The focal length in this image was 12mm, meaning that the bill of the gull was almost touching the lens!”

Photographer: Markus Varesvuo Image number: 1598067 Icy Tombs

Honey bee (Apis mellifera), two frozen on pond ice after flying out too early. Valgamaa, Southern Estonia. March.

Photographer quote:

“During an unseasonable spring in southern Estonia, I came across a frozen pond littered with hundreds of dead honeybees. The air temperature had been fluctuating, with one day being warm and the next being freezing. The combination had drawn the bees out of their hive, only for them to perish from the cold. They hadn’t made it more than a hundred metres from the hive. Despite the air temperature being below zero, the spring sun was high and bright. Ice reflects solar radiation, but the bees, being a darker colour, were absorbing the radiation and converting it into heat. The temperature difference had created small holes around each bee; tombs of ice in which, it seemed to me, the bees were eternally resting.”

Photographer: Sven Zacek Image number: 1614867 Friendly Stare

Grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) eye, Magdalena Bay, Baja Cali- fornia, Mexico, February.

Photographer quote:

“Every winter grey whales embark on an enormous migration that takes them from the freezing waters of the Arctic to the mild, coastal lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. Protected from pred- ators, they give birth and mate again for the next season. I was fortunate to find this whale totally relaxed. He gently approached our boat and stopped motionless, just looking at us. This allowed me to carefully introduce my camera to the water, focusing on the brilliant eye and “smile”. It’s just mesmerising to think all the things this whale might have seen on his long journey.”

Photographer: Claudio Contreras Image number: 1612083 Baining Fire Dance

Traditional Baining Fire Dance. Performed by men from the Baining Mountains near Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, July.

Photographer quote:

“The Baining Fire Dance is one of the most dramatic tribal dances in Papua New Guinea and takes place on the island of New Britain. The masks are thought to resemble insects and are used to com- municate with the spirit world. The dancers, who enter a trance- like state, take it in turns to run through the flames and kick up the glowing embers, causing spectacular eruptions of sparks. The challenge here was to achieve sharp focus of the dancers who were moving very quickly and randomly in the dark and then to balance the natural light produced by the flames and sparks with a flash, to show the detail of the dancers and their costumes.”

Photographer: Nick Garbutt Image number: 1612221; 1612224 The Circles

Landscape in Fjallabak Nature Reserve, with circular patterns on the ground, Iceland, September 2017.

Photographer quote:

“The Fjallabak nature reserve in the heart of Iceland is an area of geological wonders and surreal landscapes. When I noticed these circles in the hills close to Landmannalaugar, they emphasised the feeling of being on another planet - something I have experienced quite frequently when travelling in the interior of Iceland. I don’t exactly know what the circles are, but natural erosion is the most plausible option.”

Photographer: Theo Bosboom Image number: 1608922 El Niño

Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), starved to death due to the El Nino effect, Cape Douglas, Fernandina Island, Galapagos

Photographer quote:

“Marine iguanas have simple requirements: all they need is trop- ical sun to keep warm, black lava to bask on, and cold seas full of seaweed to graze. The Galapagos Islands offer all three - but the iguanas’ reliance on the sea as their sole source of food also makes them vulnerable. When cold ocean currents are replaced by warmer waters, the seaweed dies, and so do the iguanas. They have the ability to shrink their bodies — even their skeleton — by as much as 20% in order to resist starvation until the cold waters return. But if the warm spell (otherwise known as an El Niño event) lasts more than 3-4 months, it pushes the iguanas beyond their limits. El Niño cycles have been observed for a Century, but new research has shown that their effects are likely intensifying as a result of climate change. It will require all people and all countries to curb the globally rising sea temperatures that could easily extinguish this species forever.”

Photographer: Tui De Roy Image number: 1612791; 1612789; 1612820 The Cat Among the Pigeons

Wels catfish (Silurus glanis) catching Feral pigeon (Columba livia) by lunging on the riverbank, Tarn River, France August.

The Tarn River in Southwest France is the site of a very unexpected phenomenon: the local population of catfish have learned to hunt and kill pigeons. The action takes places on shingle islands, where the river winds its way through the city of Albi. Pigeons gather on the islands each morning to bathe, and the catfish are waiting. They patrol the shal- low water, looking for an opportunity to strike. When the moment is right, the fish lunge out of the water, temporarily stranding them- selves on land before wriggling back into the water with their meal. It’s a risky strategy for an aquatic predator. Certain populations of orcas and dolphins strand themselves in a similar fashion, but to see a fish risking its life this way is almost unthinkable. Interestingly, the ability to successfully seize a pigeon is an inno- vation shared by certain individuals only. The catfish needs to be small enough to sneak up in shallow water, yet strong enough to propel itself out of the water and hold on to its prey. Fish that meet these requirements are typically 1-1.5 metres long, and 80% of their diet is made up of pigeons. Each has their own style of hunt- ing. Some are explosive and reckless, others are more cautious. In this case, the fish approached very slowly and the bird didn’t suspect anything until it was too late. The strategy paid off. More often than not, pigeons manage to escape the jaws of a catfish, but on this occasion, the fish emerged the victor. Ironically, catfish that learn how to successfully hunt pigeons won’t be able to do so for long. As they grow fat on their unsuspecting prey, they lose the element of surprise and are forced to join the other large catfish on the river bottom, where they feed on worms, crustaceans and snails, among other things. Slim pickings for a fish that’s used to swallowing pigeons whole!

Photographer: Cyril Ruoso Image number: 1536960 Freedom

Ayla Kaltenecker releases an African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) that was captured in a leg-hold trap to be studied by raptor biol- ogists. The researchers took measurements and a blood sample before releasing the bird. Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Photographer

Photographer quote:

“Scientists in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, had put out a goat carcass to capture endangered vultures, but accidentally caught this juvenile fish eagle instead. Although these birds are fish specialists - like their close relatives, bald eagles and sea eagles - they’ll also occasionally scavenge on carcasses. This bird was measured and banded, before 12-year-old aspiring scientist Ayla Kaltenecker was given the chance to release it. To take this photo, I had to anticipate the moment and frame the image so I could be sure I’d capture both Ayla and the bird at the moment she released it.”

Photographer: Jen Guyton Image number: 1607391 Anaconda

Close view of a Green anaconda, (Eunectes murinus) underwater, Formoso River, Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.

Photographer quote:

“The anaconda is the heaviest, and one of the world’s longest snakes - but they’re hard to find because they’re primarily aquatic. Found in swamps, marshes, and slow-moving streams in South America, they submerge themselves almost completely and lie in wait for prey. The best way to find this snake is to look on land. They can sometimes be found basking at the water’s edge, or in riverside trees. They are cumbersome on land, but stealthy and sleek in the water, so that’s usually where they go when spotted. This individual was no different. I followed it to the bottom of the river and used a fisheye lens to capture this portrait. The anaconda was swimming against the current and stopping from time to time to “smell” the water with its tongue.”

Photographer: Franco Banfi Image number: 1609809 Feeding Time

Local fisherman feeding wild Amazon river dolphin (Inia geoffren- sis) Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil.

Photographer quote:

“At several sites along the Rio Negro in Brazil, wild Amazon river dolphins have become conditioned to human contact through the provisioning of food. Here, a local fisherman feeds a dolphin for the benefit of tourists. For this photo, I was up to my neck in the river, standing on an underwater platform. These dolphins are seldom seen out of the water so it was an exceptional thing to wit- ness. Amazon river dolphins are an endangered species. Mercury pollution from gold-mining activities is thought to have contributed to their decline, while some fishermen kill them for bait, to fuel a lucrative trade in catfish. It was encouraging to see this fisherman deriving more economic benefit from a living dolphin than a dead one.”

Photographer: Sylvain Cordier Image number: 1604793 & 1604876 Sinkholes

Cracked and melted ice on lake following the first snowfall of win- ter. Akershus, Norway. December.

Photographer quote:

“Standing on the shore of a frozen lake, I discovered this abstract pattern. The snow falling on the frozen surface had broken through the weakest parts of the ice, creating ‘sinkholes.’ Once the ice was pierced, water from the surrounding area flowed to the holes in small streams, creating the branching patterns. The ice was too thin to walk on so I photographed the scene with a drone, flying at low altitude. It took me a long time to find the right framing. By composing a tight frame, it becomes difficult for the viewer to judge the size and nature of the formation. For me, the image is therefore both nature documentation and art.”

Photographer: Pål Hermansen Image number: 1615096 Sycamore Gap

Aurora Borealis over Sycamore Gap, Hadrian’s Wall, Northumber- land, England. February.

Photographer quote: “There was a fair amount of luck involved in taking this image. I had set out simply to photograph the famous sycamore tree which stands in a dramatic dip in Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland National Park. This area has been designated a Dark Sky Park due to its lack of light pollution, so I wanted to photograph the tree against a backdrop of stars. However, my initial test shots showed a faint green glow along the horizon. As the night progressed, the colours became more intense, with curtains of red and purple reaching up into the heavens. The image was taken using an expo- sure time of 15 seconds. The exposure couldn’t be any longer than that, otherwise the movement of the stars became obvious and any shapes and textures within the Northern Lights were lost.”

Photographer: Guy Edwardes Image number: 1610415

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Great white egret (Ardea alba) group of three in winter, Kiskunsag National Park, Hungary.

Photographer quote: “For more than ten years I envisaged this image: great white egrets in the snow, their black legs and yellow beaks being the only counterpoints to an otherwise monochrome photograph. Lots of environmental factors needed to come together at the same time to make this image possible.”

Photographer: Bence Mate Image number: 1611787 Contact: [email protected] +44 (0) 117 911 4675