Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016

The acclaimed Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition showcases Earth’s most extraordinary and revelatory sights; reflecting nature’s beauty and diversity and highlighting the fragility of wildlife on our planet. After its London premiere, the exhibition embarks on a UK and international tour, to inspire millions of people across the world to appreciate and conserve the natural world.  The next Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, WPY53, is open for entries from 24 October to 15 December 2016.

Find out more at nhm.ac.uk/wpy
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London

Snapper party – Winner, Underwater

Tony Wu, USA.
For several days each month (in tandem with the full moon), thousands of two-spot red snappers gather to spawn around Palau in the western Pacific Ocean. The action is intense as the fish fill the water with sperm and eggs, and predators arrive to take advantage of the bounty. Having read about the drama, Tony couldn’t understand why there were so few photos of it – until he hit the water there for the first time, in 2012. The currents were unrelenting – ideal for eggs to be swept swiftly away but a struggle for him to keep up with the fast‑moving fish. Also, the light was low, and the water was clouded with sperm and eggs. That first attempt failed, but he has returned every year to try to capture the event. Noticing that the spawning ran ‘like a chain reaction up and down the mass of fish’, his success finally came when he positioned himself so that the action came to him. Rewarded with a grandstand view, he was intrigued to see that the fish rapidly changed colour during mating from their standard red to a multitude of hues and patterns. Even their characteristic two white spots, close to the dorsal fin on their back, seemed to fade and reappear. On this occasion, with perfect anticipation, he managed to capture a dynamic arc of spawning fish amid clouds of eggs in the oblique morning light. Still obsessed by the dynamics and magnitude of this natural wonder, he will be returning to Palau next April to witness once again the spectacular snapper party.

Technical details: Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 15mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f9; ISO 640; Zillion housing; Pro One optical dome port.

Entwined lives – Winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016

Tim Laman, USA

A young male orangutan makes the 30-metre (100-foot) climb up the thickest root of the strangler fig that has entwined itself around a tree emerging high above the canopy. The backdrop is the rich rainforest of the Gunung Palung National Park, in West Kalimantan, one of the few protected orangutan strongholds in Indonesian Borneo. The orangutan has returned to feast on the crop of figs. He has a mental map of the likely fruiting trees in his huge range, and he has already feasted here. Tim knew he would return and, more important, that there was no way to reach the top – no route through the canopy – other than up the tree. But he had to do three days of climbing up and down himself, by rope, to place in position several GoPro cameras that he could trigger remotely to give him a chance of not only a wide‑angle view of the forest below but also a view of the orangutan’s face from above. This shot was the one he had long visualized, looking down on the orangutan within its forest home.
Technical details: GoPro HERO4 Black; 1/30 sec at f2.8; ISO 231.

Tentacle tornado – Finalist, Underwater

Geo Cloete, South Africa

Though Geo had encountered large smacks of Cape box jellyfish before in the waters off South Africa’s Hout Bay, this time numbers were truly astonishing. Not only were there thousands of jellies but they were also tightly packed, forming several columns linked deeper down to a thick swarm. Few have seen such a spectacle, and no one knows the reason for such behaviour, but it is probably linked to reproduction. Box jellies are sufficiently distinct from other jellyfish to warrant their own class (Cubozoa). They have four complex eyes, with which they can detect movement of prey and changes in light intensity, and they can actively propel themselves. Some species are also extremely toxic (barbed nematocysts – explosive cells – on the four tentacles of Cape box jellies, used for stunning prey, can inflict painful stings). Some have elaborate courtship and mating behaviours. When they reproduce sexually, the male puts his tentacles into the bell of the female and delivers packets of sperm. ‘I was captivated by the rhythmic contractions of their bells as they danced up a storm,’ says Geo. For once, the visibility in these plankton-rich cold waters was reasonable, and he was able to capture one of the spectacular columns of transparent jellies against the sunlight.

Technical details: Nikon D300 + Tokina 10–17mm f3.5–4.5 lens at 10mm; 1/160 sec at f14; ISO 200; Seatool housing; two Sea & Sea YS-250PRO strobes.

Split moment – Finalist, Underwater

Greg Lecoeur, France

A baitball driven to the surface by common dolphins splits in further panic as Cape gannets plummet down. Wings folded back, they are so streamlined that they barely slow on hitting the water, shooting 10 metres (33 feet) deep before braking. Greg captured the moment one gannet seized a mouthful of fish, a fizzing trail of bubbles in its wake. In two weeks of searching, Greg encountered just two baitballs, one in poor visibility, and this small one, of red-eye round herring – not the sardines he was expecting. The annual ‘sardine run’, when millions of sardines move up South Africa’s east coast, is now less predictable, possibly due to overfishing or warming waters. For Cape gannets, which breed on just six small islands and are vulnerable to extinction, shortage of fish is now a major threat.
Technical details: Nikon D7000 + Tokina 10–17mm f3.5–4.5 lens at 10mm; 1/200 sec at f9; ISO 200; Nauticam housing; two Ikelite DS160 strobes.