The dreamy image of a polar bear sleeping in a “bed” carved from an iceberg has been voted the winner of the competition. People’s Choice Award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY).
It was taken by a British amateur photographer. Nima Sarikhani while exploring the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on an expedition ship. She beat four highly praised finalists to claim the crown.
The 25 images in competition for this year’s People’s Choice Award received a record number of votes, with more than 75,000 wildlife and nature photography fans from around the world casting their votes to name Nima as the winner of this year’s People’s Choice Award. anus.
Nima captured this extraordinary image, called “Ice Bed,” after three days searching for polar bears in thick fog. The expedition ship she was on decided to change course and headed towards an area of sea ice. Here they met two polar bears.
Just before midnight, the young male climbed onto a small iceberg and, using his strong paws, scratched it to make a bed for himself. Nima captured the dreamlike moment in which the young bear fell asleep.
This dreamy image of a polar bear sleeping in a “bed” carved from an iceberg has been voted the winner of the People’s Choice Award (WPY) for Wildlife Photographer of the Year. It was taken by British amateur photographer Nima Sarikhani while exploring the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard on an expedition ship.
Mark Boyd’s much-praised “Co-Parenting” photograph shows a pair of lionesses devotedly caring for a cub in Masai Mara, Kenya.
For ‘Aurora Jellies’, highly praised finalist Audun Rikardsen photographed two moon jellyfish in the cool autumn waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in northern Norway, illuminated by the northern lights.
Director of the Natural History Museum, Dr Douglas Gurr, said: “Nima’s stunning and moving image allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet. Her thought-provoking image is a stark reminder of the bond integral between an animal and its habitat and serves as a visual representation of the detrimental impacts of climate warming and habitat loss.’
Nima says: ‘I am very honored to have won this year’s People’s Choice award for WPY, the most prestigious wildlife photography competition. This photograph has aroused strong emotions in many of those who have seen it.
“While climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope this photograph also inspires hope: there is still time to clean up the mess we have made.”
The work of the other four finalists spanned the globe to depict nature at its most miraculous.
Mark Boyd from Kenya presented ‘Shared Parenting’. He shows a pair of lionesses devotedly caring for one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Masai Mara.
‘The Happy Turtle’, by finalist Tzahi Finkelstein of Israel, shows a Balkan pond turtle sharing a moment of fascinating peaceful coexistence with a northern ringed land dragonfly in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.
Daniel Dencescu’s highly praised ‘Starling Murmuration’ shows a fascinating mass of starlings swirling in the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts above Rome, Italy.
For ‘Aurora Jellies’, finalist Audun Rikardsen from Norway photographed two moon jellyfish in the cool autumn waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in northern Norway, illuminated by the northern lights. It is common for this species to gather by the hundreds under the northern lights.
‘The Happy Turtle’, by finalist Tzahi Finkelstein of Israel, shows a Balkan pond turtle sharing a moment of fascinating peaceful coexistence with a northern ringed land dragonfly in Israel’s Jezreel Valley.
Meanwhile, Daniel Dencescu’s ‘Starling Murmuration’ shows a fascinating mass of starlings swirling into the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts above Rome, Italy.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The images submitted in the 60th competition are currently being judged by an international panel of experts.
Winners will be announced at the next annual awards ceremony, which will take place in South Kensington in October 2024.
Visitors will be able to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition until June 30, 2024, at the Museum of Natural History.