Image Credit, Karine Aigner/WPY Caption,
The big hit: Karine Aigner’s winning picture was taken at the end of several weeks of shooting
By Jonathan Amos
BBC Science Correspondent
It’s a manic moment as male cactus bees envelop a lone female. But who in this amorous crush will emerge happily from it and mate with her?
This remarkable image, taken by Karine Aigner, is the grand winner of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
On one level, it’s a pretty technical picture. It required the use of a macroprobe lens to get close to the heart of the action.
“I had to spend quite a lot of time on my stomach in the dirt,” Karine joked.
The American is only the fifth woman to win the grand prize in the 58-year history of the WPY, as the competition is often called.
“It wasn’t something I was looking for. I’ve worked on a ranch in South Texas for years and just happened to be there. I saw all these little ‘volcanoes’ in the ground – the individual burrows that were dug by the females to build their nests,” she told BBC News.
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Watch: Walking among cactus bee nests. © Karine Aigner
Cactus bees, as the name suggests, live on and around cactus plants. The females collect pollen, which they form into small balls and store in chambers in the ground. The orbs maintain their larvae until they emerge as adults and are able to continue the reproductive cycle.
“The picture is fabulous; it has so much energy. It’s a real ‘behavioural’ record. That’s what you get from invertebrates, and that’s why I love them,” said Roz Kidman Cox, WPY Jury Chair.
“It’s also the composition. What makes the photo complete are the bees coming in from the side. They give you ‘the soundtrack’.”
Image Credit, Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn/WPYCaption,
The beauty of baleen: Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn went out in a boat 20-30 times to take this picture
The young wildlife photographer of the year 2022 is Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn from Thailand.
The 16-year-old’s winning entry is a close-up of a Bryde’s whale and the baleen plates in its mouth, which are used to filter food.
You can see a sardine flying through the air as it tries to escape the great whale’s devouring.
“Somehow the sardine jumped into the boat,” recalls Katanyou. “I was lucky. I got close in the boat and the whale stayed above the water for about a minute.”
WPY is one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind in world photography.
Launched in 1964 by BBC Wildlife Magazine, the competition is now organized by London’s Natural History Museum.
This year’s event attracted 38,575 entries from 93 countries. Below are some of the category winners.
Ndakasi passes Brent Stirton, South Africa
Image Credit, Brent Stirton/WPY
Brent Stirton is known for his photojournalism, for which he is this year’s WPY category winner. His picture shows the end of life of Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla who was rescued in DRC’s Virunga National Park at the age of two months after her troop was brutally killed by a powerful charcoal mafia. Ndakasi lies in the arms of her rescuer and caregiver Andre Bauma.
Heavenly Flamingos by Junji Takasago, Japan
Image Credit: Junji Takasago/WPY
These flamingos are pictured high in the Andes at the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt pan. It is also one of Bolivia’s largest lithium mines, threatening the future of the flamingos. Japanese photographer Junji Takasago suffered from altitude sickness to get this image, but his discomfort earned him the Natural Artistry category.
The Dying Lake by Daniel Núñez, Guetamala
Image Credit: Daniel Núñez/WPY
It may look colorful, but that’s not a healthy scene. Daniel Núñez used a drone to capture the contrast between the forest and algal growth on the edge of Lake Amatitlán in Guatemala. The cyanobacteria in the water are fueled by the presence of pollutants such as sewage from Guatemala City. The picture won the Wetlands, The Bigger Picture category.
Shooting Star by Tony Wu, USA/Japan
Image Credit: Tony Wu/WPY
Tony Wu captured this scene off the coast of Japan. It depicts a giant starfish (sea star) at the moment of spawning. The echinoderm moves its arms and rocks its body, perhaps to sweep eggs and sperm into the currents where they can fertilize together in the water. The image won the WPY Underwater category.
The Bat Snapper by Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar, Mexico
Image Credit: Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar/WPY
Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar took this picture in a place known as the Cave of the Hanging Serpents. At dusk, thousands of bats leave the cave to look for insects. As they leave, the rat snakes cling to the walls of the cave, aiming to get their own meal. The image won in the Behavior category: Amphibians and Reptiles.
House of Bears by Dmitry Kokh, Russia
Image source, Dmitry Koch/WPY
Dimitry Kokh captured this image on Kolyuchin Island in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea. The polar bears provide a haunting scene in the mist that hangs over the abandoned buildings. Sailor Dimitry was on the island to seek shelter from a storm. He used a small drone to get close to the predators. The image won in the Urban Wildlife category.
That annual exhibition dedicated to the WPY competition opens at the Natural History Museum in London on Friday. As in previous years, it will also tour the UK and 10 countries worldwide. Submissions for the 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year will be accepted beginning Monday.