The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year People’s Choice Award: 12 Shortlisted Images That People Could Choose From

Last year, the Natural History Museum announced their spectacular winning images selected from 50,000 submissions. A further 25 memorable images were shortlisted by the judges and the Natural History Museum, from which the public had a chance to select their favorites.

Well, fast forward to today, and we already have a winner, a picture of a sleeping polar bear taken by photographer Nima Sarikhani. Titled "Ice Bed," Nima’s photo was voted for by a record number of 75,000 people. Nima's picture sends a powerful yet sad message regarding global warming. But the photographer herself also sees hope and believes that we can still fix this.

So, without further ado, we invite you to admire beautiful, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking shortlisted pictures that reflect our natural wildlife today.

More info: nhm.ac.uk | Instagram

12 PHOTOS

#1 Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 59 People’s Choice Winner: "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, in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Having spent three days searching for polar bears through thick fog, the expedition vessel Nima was on a changed course. It turned and headed to where there was still some sea ice. Here Nima encountered a younger and an older male polar bear. Just before midnight, the young male clambered onto a small iceberg and, using its strong paws, clawed away to carve out a bed before drifting off to sleep."

#2 "Swallow Over Meadow" By Hermann Hirsch And Jan Lessman

"A barn swallow flies over a meadow of cornflowers, catching insects during springtime in eastern Germany.

As their name suggests, barn swallows prefer to nest inside buildings and usually return to the same spot each year, repairing nesting cups sculpted from mud and clay. Positioning their camera among the cornflowers, Hermann and Jan watched as the swallows continuously flew low over the meadow, catching insects on the wing. Using a remote control, they took this beautiful picture as one of the swallows flew over the camera."

#3 "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 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 amid the swamp’s murky waters."

#4 "Starling Murmuration" By Daniel Dencescu

"Daniel was mesmerized 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."

#5 "Snowshoes" By Deena Sveinsson

"It was a late spring morning and Deena was snowshoeing deep in the forests of the Rocky Mountain National Park, USA, when she noticed this snowshoe hare sleeping on a small snow mound.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, she positioned herself in front of it. Hours later the hare woke and hopped off the snow mound in Deena’s direction. Using a high frame rate, she captured the exact moment in its hop where the hare pulled its large back feet up next to its head. Its large feet prevent the hare from sinking into the deep, soft snow, acting like snowshoes hence its name the snowshoe hare."

6 "Shared Parenting" By Mark Boyd

"Early in the morning, Mark watched as these lionesses groomed one of the pride’s five cubs in Kenya’s Maasai Mara.

They had set off to hunt the evening before, 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 enjoying the moment of affection and attention."

#7 "Looking At Me, Looking At You" By John E. Marriott

"John was leading a grizzly bear photography tour on the Chilko River when the group came across this bear salmon fishing.

Allowing the current to take their small boat slowly past the bear, they watched it rise up on its hind legs as if to get a better perspective on the salmon in the shallow water. As the bear was standing there, it momentarily glanced in the boat’s direction with a quizzical expression before returning to its salmon-fishing endeavors."

#8 "Curiosity" By Gerald Hinde

"Under the watchful eye of its mother in South Africa’s Greater Kruger National Park, a curious lion cub walks towards the photographer, who was watching from a vehicle.

Gerald had parked his vehicle in the riverbed. This was the first cub to come and investigate his arrival. Holding his camera out of the vehicle, close to the ground, he managed to get a low photographic angle of the cub’s activities. Lion cubs are vulnerable to other predators such as leopards and hyenas, but often the main threat is from invading male lions. For the first six weeks they’re kept hidden away, after this they’re introduced to the pride and protection is provided by all the members."

#9 "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.

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 colors 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 recognized by their four rings, which are their genitals."

#10 "Homecoming" By Dvir Barkay

"Dvir spent more than two months attempting to get images of the rarely photographed pygmy round-eared bat in the lowland rainforests of Costa Rica.

The bats exhibit a unique roosting behavior, resting in hollows that they carve out with their teeth inside the nests of termite colonies. Using a nearby branch to support his camera, Dvir set up an infrared trigger near the entrance of the roost, together with three diffused flashes. This image shows one of the bats returning home as two well-camouflaged family members peer out from the entrance."

#11 "Neighbourhood" Dispute By Ofer Levy

"A mudskipper fiercely defends its territory from a trespassing crab in Roebuck Bay, Australia.

Mudskippers are extremely territorial, often building mud walls around their territories where they feed and breed. This crab is trespassing and by opening its mouth and raising its dorsal fin, the mudskipper is challenging the intruder, attempting to scare it off with a threatening display. Ofer watched the two continually confront each other out on the mud flat - the mudskipper always initiating the clash."

#12 "Tender Touch" By Andy Parkinson

"For 15 years Andy’s been photographing the hares of Scotland’s Monadhliath Mountains, but in all that time he’s never witnessed a moment like this.

He was expecting the female to repel the male’s advances with the usual explosive boxing behavior, so included lots of space around them. Unexpectedly, the two courting hares came together and touched noses. Acting quickly, Andy caught their special moment on camera. For him, this was yet more evidence of the highly complex social relationships that animals have with one another."