The winners of this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award have been revealed.
The 25 images in the running for this year's competition received over 75,000 votes, with British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani eventually clinching top spot.
"Nima’s breathtaking and poignant image allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet," says Director of the Natural History Museum, Dr Douglas Gurr.
"His thought- provoking image is a stark reminder of the integral bond between an animal and its habitat and serves as a visual representation of the detrimental impacts of climate warming and habitat loss."
The four ‘Highly Commended’ finalists that also charmed wildlife lovers include ‘The Happy Turtle’ by Tzahi Finkelstein, ‘Starling Murmuration’ by Daniel Dencescu, ‘Shared Parenting’ by Mark Boyd and 'Aurora Jellies’ by Audun Rikardsen.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London.
Ice Bed by Nima Sarikhani
A polar bear carves out a bed from a small iceberg before drifting off to sleep in the far north, off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Having spent three days desperately searching for polar bears through thick fog in the far north off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, the expedition vessel Nima was on decided to change course. It turned and headed to the southeast, where there was still some sea ice. Here they encountered a younger and an older male. Just before midnight, the young male clambered onto a small iceberg and, using his strong paws, clawed away at it to carve out a bed for himself before drifting off to sleep.
Location: Off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, Norway
Aurora Jellies by Audun Rikardsen
Moon jellyfish swarm in the cool autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in northern Norway illuminated by the aurora borealis. It’s common for this species to gather in their hundreds under the aurora borealis. Sheltering his equipment in a self-made waterproof housing, Audun used a single exposure as well as his own system for adjusting the focus and aperture during the exposure. This enabled him to capture the reflection of the sky’s colours on the surface of the water and at the same time light up the jellyfish with flashes. Moon jellyfish are common in all oceans and are easily recognised by their four rings, which are in fact their genitals.
Location: Tromsø, Northern Norway
Shared Parenting by Mark Boyd
A pair of lionesses devotedly groom one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Early in the morning, Mark watched as these lionesses groomed one of their five cubs in their territory in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The evening before they’d set off to hunt, leaving the cubs hidden overnight in dense bushes. Returning from their unsuccessful mission, they’d called the cubs out onto the open grassland. Females raise each other’s cubs as their own, sharing parenting duties. Here the youngster was clearly enjoying the moment of affection and attention.
Location: Maasai Mara, Kenya
Starling Murmuration by Daniel Dencescu
A mesmerising mass of starlings swirl into the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts above the city of Rome, Italy. Daniel was mesmerised by the movements of the starlings as they formed colossal organic shapes in the sky. Each day, as they returned from foraging, they would gather in large numbers and perform spellbinding aerial shows, known as murmurations, on their flight home to their communal roosts. In a bid to locate the best roosting sites at which to capture the spectacle, Daniel spent hours following the starlings around the city and suburbs of Rome. Finally, on this cloudless winter’s day, the flock didn’t disappoint, swirling into the shape of a giant bird.
Location: The city of Rome, Italy
The Happy Turtle by Tzahi Finkelstein
A Balkan pond turtle shares a moment of peaceful coexistence with a northern banded groundling dragonfly in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. Tzahi was positioned in his hide in Israel’s Jezreel Valley photographing shore birds when he spotted a Balkan pond turtle walking in the shallow water. At first, he wasn’t interested in it and carried on watching the birds. It wasn’t until a northern banded groundling dragonfly flew past his lens in the direction of the turtle that his focus changed. 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 of peaceful coexistence in the midst of the swamp’s murky waters.
Location: Jezreel Valley, Israel