Polar bear sleeping on iceberg wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year award | EUROtoday

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This dreamy picture of a polar bear drifting to sleep on a mattress carved into an iceberg is the winner of the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award.

British beginner photographer Nima Sarikhani, who captured the beautiful second after three days on an expedition vessel off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, stated: “This photograph has stirred strong emotions in many of those who have seen it. Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope that this photograph also inspires hope; there is still time to fix the mess we have caused.”

“Nima’s breathtaking and poignant image allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet,” stated Douglas Gurr, director of London’s Natural History Museum, which hosts the yearly competitors.

More than 50,000 images had been entered into the competitors final 12 months, of which 25 had been shortlisted by a panel of judges and the Natural History Museum, it stated. “Ice Bed” was chosen because the winner by 75,000 members of the general public — a document quantity, the museum stated.

Here are the 4 different pictures that had been extremely counseled within the competitors:

Tzahi Finkelstein captured this second between a Balkan pond turtle and a northern banded groundling dragonfly, whereas photographing shore birds in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.

“The dragonfly unexpectedly landed on the turtle’s nose, but instead of snapping up the insect, the turtle appeared to be experiencing pleasure from the interaction as they shared a moment in the midst of the swamp’s murky waters,” the Natural History Museum stated.

‘Starling Murmuration’

Daniel Dencescu spent hours following starlings round Rome on a cloudless winter’s day earlier than he managed to seize a flock of them swirl into the form of a large chook. The mesmerizing phenomenon of flock of starlings shifting into completely different shapes is generally known as murmuration.

The birds are by turns mesmerizing and maddening

In this photograph by Mark Boyd, a pair of lionesses might be seen splitting parenting duties as they affectionately groom one of many delight’s cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara.

Audun Rikardsen performed with publicity and flash to {photograph} an imposing aurora borealis — also called the northern lights — illuminating a pair of moon jellyfish within the waters of a fjord outdoors Tromsø, northern Norway.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/07/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-2023/