Move over Rose, this polar bear has enough room.
An adorable photo of a polar bear snoozing on a small iceberg has won the Wildlife Photographer Of The Year award. It was shot by amateur photographer, Nima Sarikhani, who captured the sleeping bear off Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. He spent three days “desperately” on the lookout for animals in thick fog.
When his expedition vessel changed course, Nima came across two polar bears and saw the smaller male animal making his bed on the iceberg before catching some Zzz’s.
The photo, called Ice Bed, has been crowned the winner of the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer Of The Year people’s choice award. Nima won following a shortlist of 25 snappers being chosen from 50,000 entries from around the globe.
75,000 people voted for their chosen winner, which is a new record.
Organizers praised Nima’s photo, calling it “breathtaking and poignant”.
They added it “allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet” and acts as “a stark reminder of the integral bond between an animal and its habitat… a visual representation of the detrimental impacts of climate warming and habitat loss”.
Nima was “honored” after being named Wildlife Photographer Of The Year.
He said: “This photograph has stirred strong emotions in many of those who have seen it.
“Whilst climate change is the biggest challenge we face, I hope that this photograph also inspires hope; there is still time to fix the mess we have caused.”
The runners-up include Tzahi Finkelstein, who caught a moment of a happy turtle who was sharing a cute moment with a dragonfly. It was taken in Israel’s Jezreel Valley, where Tzahi spent time in a hide to capture the shot.
Initially, he was paying attention to shore birds when he saw the turtle, who didn’t try to eat it for dinner, but instead appeared playful.
Then Mark Boyd, from Kenya, submitted a pair of lionesses grooming the pride’s cubs in the early morning. From Kenya’s Maasai Mara, the photographer saw the protective lionesses hide the cubs the night before when they went out to hunt. However, when they came back they called them out for a wash.
Daniel Dencescu, from Germany and Romania, caught a mesmerising murmuration of starlings that looked like a giant bird. He saw them gather in Rome after foraging and caught the image after spending hours following them around the city.
Then we have Audun Rikardsen, from Norway, who snapped a stunning photo of moon jellyfish floating in the autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromso, being illuminated by the aurora borealis. Audun made himself waterproof housing for the shot, perfecting his single exposure and equipment to capture the reflection of the colors in the sky on the water.
