Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Mamma manatee and calf

A manatee and its calf drift underwater in Hunter Springs, Florida.

An algal bloom within the space had induced a decline within the eelgrass beds that present them with meals, however the local people restored the habitat, leading to extra manatees being recorded than ever earlier than.

The picture taken by Dr Jason Gulley, who can also be a geologist, is amongst a number of extremely counseled on this 12 months’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The competitors’s successful images can be introduced on 8 October, adopted by an exhibition on the Natural History Museum, showcasing 100 images.

Scroll down to listen to extra from Jason and see a number of the different extremely counseled images.

Jason advised the BBC in an interview that he would not usually take photographs for competitions.

Manatees are massive aquatic mammals generally referred to as sea cows.

All three manatee species are listed as weak to extinction attributable to quite a lot of threats together with boat collisions, searching and habitat destruction.

“The first time I received into the water with manatees, I noticed them being tremendous playful with one another. They had been curious and inquisitive,” he stated.

“There was one manatee that grew to become tremendous interested in me, and he would depart the opposite group of manatees and stroll on his flippers, and he’d get about midway in direction of me after which run again to the group on his flippers.

“A few minutes later, he’d come just a bit bit nearer after which return, and it simply jogged my memory of experiences like at a canine park.”

“I’ve by no means seen images that seize this behaviour,” Jason stated. “I went in to get just a few photos for a mission on environmental impacts and conservation, however I received obsessed.”

Sasha had been watching these tawny owlets for a number of days in a park close to his house. He had seen tawny owls within the neighbourhood earlier than however was stunned to find these so near the guts of town.

Highly Commended, 10 Years and Under

Location: Maximiliansanlagen, Munich, Germany

Jose noticed this stoat bounce mid-air as an “expression of exuberance” because the small mammal hurled itself round in a contemporary snowfall.

Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals

Location: Athose, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

The radio alerted Ian {that a} jaguar had been noticed prowling a tributary of the São Lourenço river. Kneeling within the boat, he was within the excellent place when the cat delivered the skull-crushing chew to the unsuspecting yacare caiman.

Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals

Location: Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil

During Chinese New Year, Xingchao tracked a gaggle of Pallas’s cats on the frozen plateau of Inner Mongolia. Before daybreak, Xingchao made eye contact with this cat, simply because it caught a chook.

Category – Highly Commended, Behaviour: Mammals

Location: Hulun Buir, Inner Mongolia, China

As Lam Soon Tak explored the highlands of Malaysia, he got here throughout this spider, Heteropoda davidbowie, named in 2008 by arachnologist and Bowie fan Dr Peter Jägerthe. Perched on damaged branches beside a river, its orange physique stood out in opposition to the plush inexperienced moss.

Highly Commended, Behaviour: Invertebrates

Location: Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia

A standout second on Tamara’s nine-week expedition in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea was when two seals bobbed as much as the floor to take a deeper breath after falling asleep alongside the ship.

Highly Commended, Animals of their Environment

Location: Weddell Sea, Antarctica

Mussels bind themselves to rocks or different mussels on the ocean ground utilizing their hair-like ‘beards’, additionally known as byssal threads. Theo likes to take photos of species that aren’t thought-about stunning or necessary, to focus on their unappreciated significance.

Highly Commended, Animals of their Environment

Location: Praia da Ursa, Sintra, Portugal

Thomas used his drone to seize this picture, which is a stitched panorama of 26 particular person frames, to supply a spectacular view of meltwater plunging over the sting of the Bråsvellbreen glacierglacier.

Highly Commended, Oceans: The Bigger Picture

Location: Svalbard, Norway

On the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, Tommy photographed a requiem shark, its physique arched in a closing act of resistance. He was on a analysis expedition to doc bycatch or unintentional seize of sharks by tuna and swordfish fishing boats.

Highly Commended, Oceans: The Bigger Picture

Location: International waters, South Atlantic Ocean

Shreyovi noticed the 2 Indian peafowl whereas strolling within the forest along with her mother and father.

Runner-Up, 10 Years and Under.

Location: Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan, India