King penguins standing on a beach on the backdrop of rising sun, an old lioness chasing her prey and a close encounter with a crabeater seal are just a few moments of animals featured in the photos short-listed for this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year LUMIX People's Choice Award.
Short-listed from over 45,000 submissions from 95 countries, these images are currently on display at the Natural History Museum in London, the institution that organises the competition and a world-renowned exhibition.
While we wait for the results to be announced -- voting closes on February 5-- here are some of the beautiful images in the contest.
Kindly click on the images for full-screen resolution.
A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up.
Photograph: Connor Stefanison/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive.
Photograph: Cristobal Serrano/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honoured to have experienced and captured such a moment. .
Photograph: David Lloyd/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
On a hot morning at the Chitake Springs, in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Federico watched as an old lioness descended from the top of the riverbank. She'd been lying in wait to ambush any passing animals visiting a nearby waterhole further along the riverbed.
Photograph: Federico Veronesi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf..
Photograph: Franco Banfi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
The baby gorilla clung to its mother whilst keeping a curious eye on David. He had been trekking in South Bwindi, Uganda, whenhe came across the whole family. Following them, they then stopped in a small clearing to relax and groom each other.
Photograph: David Lloyd/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off.
Photograph: Matthew Maran/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Every winter, hundreds of Steller's sea eagles migrate from Russia, to the relatively ice-free northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. They hunt for fish among the ices floes and also scavenge, following the fishing boats to feed on any discards. Konstantin took his image from a boat as the eagles retrieved a dead fish thrown onto the ice.
Photograph: Konstantin Shatenev/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
A one-month-old orphaned North American beaver kit is held by a caretaker at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, Washington. Luckily it was paired with a female beaver who took on the role of mother and they were later released into the wild.
Photograph: Suzi Eszterhas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Tin was fortunate enough to be told about a fox den in Washington State, North America, which was home to a family of red, black and silver foxes. After days of waiting for good weather he was finally rewarded with this touching moment.
Photograph: TinMan Lee/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behaviour –the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off.
Photograph: Wim Van Den Heever/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phil's visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in.
Photograph: Phil Jones/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa –they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!
Photograph: Bence Mate/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
Unafraid of the snowy blizzard, this squirrel came to visit Audren as he was taking photographs of birds in the small Jura village of Les Fourgs, France. Impressed by the squirrel's endurance, he made it the subject of the shoot.
Photograph: Audren Morel/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
After several months of field research into a little colony of greater mouse-eared bats in Sucs, Lleida, Spain, Antonio managed to capture this bat mid-flight. He used a technique of high speed photography with flashes combined with continuous light to create the 'wake'.
Photograph: Antonio Leiva Sanchez/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum
