Finalists of the "Best Nature Photographer — 2017" contest from National Geographic

Sensational images of wildlife and weather wonders, underwater and aerial photographs — all these are impressive photos that have reached the final of the competition "Best Nature Photographer — 2017" (National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year 2017).

Most recently, we admired the pictures from the Travel Photographer Of The Year 2017 contest. And today we are getting acquainted with the finalists of the Nature Photographer Of The Year 2017 contest. The acceptance of works for the competition ended on November 17, but the winners will be announced only on December 12: the author of the best picture will receive $ 10,000 as a reward.

The selection of 28 images that we offer you are the best works honored to be finalists for "beauty, composition, accuracy and originality".

Source: National Geographic

Wanderer. Sandstorm in Altyn-Emel National Park, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Alesya Osadchaya | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Sea turtle and sunset. (Photo by Gaby Barathieu | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Kayak on a frozen lake in the heart of the Alps. (Photo by Stefan Thaler | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Dragonfly and dew. (Photo by Teri Zandi | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Bridge and river in Iceland. View from above. (Photo by Manish Mamtani | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Curious little whale. (Photo by Daina Buchner | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Wild emotions. Foxes in the National Wildlife Refuge in the Kodiak Archipelago in southwestern Alaska, USA. (Photo by Joshua Blouin | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A bridge for animals. Singapore has the first ecological bridge in Southeast Asia, designed to restore the ecological connection between the two reserves. (Photo by Son Tong | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Wild stories. (Photo by Shane Kalyn | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Rains on the border of Lake Amboseli in Kenya. (Photo by Ken Dyball | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

And an equally curious bear to the north of the Svalbard archipelago. (Photo by David Sinclair | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Located next to Halong Bay, Lanha Bay is a calm bay in the Catba Island system. There are approximately 400 large and small islands covered with green vegetation and limestone in Lanha Bay. (Photo by Son Tong | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

In India, there is a mysterious village of Hampi — 20 years ago, a settlement lost in the jungle, known only to a narrow circle of Indian historians. It is located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, in the north of the South Indian state of Karnataka. (Photo by Par Parekh | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Kayak on autumn lake in New Hampshire. (Photo by Manish Mamtani | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Patagonia is a land of winds and clouds. And there are still lenticular clouds here. Clouds usually hover downwind of mountain ranges, behind ridges and individual peaks at an altitude of two to fifteen kilometers. Quite a rare natural phenomenon. (Photo by Daisy Gilardini | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

An amazing iceberg with an arch in Western Greenland. (Photo by Marek Biegalski | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

The Faroe Islands. (Photo by Wojciech Kruczynski | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Fishing on Kuril Lake, Kamchatka. (Photo by David Chen | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A hawk attacks a prairie dog. (Photo by David M. | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A humpback whale in Alaska. (Photo by Eric Esterle | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A football field on the Lofoten Islands, Norway. (Photo by Stas Bartnikas | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Lioness and giraffes. (Photo by Mike Hall | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A polar bear jumps from ice floe to ice floe. (Photo by Florian Ledoux | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A supercell on the Kansas Plains. (Photo by Ryan Wunsch | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

An alien. (Photo by Adam Silverman | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

A raccoon dog hides in the foliage. (Photo by Lukas Adamec | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Tortuguero is one of the most remote national parks in Costa Rica. (Photo by Enrico Pescantini | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Lurking. An orangutan in the Tanjung National Park in Indonesia. (Photo by Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan | 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)