Feather in the Flames
Winged Life FinalistFarmers in Singur, West Bengal, India, burn off the stubble left after harvest, and black drongos swoop to eat the insects fleeing the flames
Photo: Kallol Mukherjee
Synchronized Sleepers
Human/Nature FinalistFranco Banfi and his fellow divers were following this pod of sperm whales in the Caribbean Sea off the Commonwealth of Dominica, when they suddenly seemed to fall into a vertical slumber. First observed in 2008, scientists have found that these massive marine animals spend about 7 per cent of their time alseep
Photo: Franco Banfi
Kamokuna Lava Firehose 25
Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora WinnerDuring a week in January, a steady stream of lava, called a firehose, suddenly gushed from an underground lava tube at the base of Hawai’i’s Kilauea volcano and spilled into the Pacific Ocean.
Photo: Jon Cornforth
Pandas Gone Wild
Human/nature WinnerAt the Hetaoping Research and Conservation Center in China’s Wolong Reserve, captive-bred giant pandas have been raised with the hope of one day reintroducing them to the wild.
Photo: Ami Vita
Mantis Mom: Aquatic Life Winner
Surrounded by black volcanic sands, a peacock mantis shrimp stands guard over her ribbon-like mass of fertilized eggs in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia
Photo: Filippo Borghi
The Salmon Catchers
Terrestrial WildlifeTo capture this view of a mother grizzly bear and her cub, photographer Peter Mather set up a camera trap on a log that he knew the bears tended to traverse while fishing for salmon, in the Yukon River watershed in Canada
Photo: Peter Mather
Roundup at Revillagigedo: Aquatic Life Finalist
The nutrient and plankton rich waters of the Revillagigedo Archipelago, Mexico, create an unusually healthy ecosystem. Here lie over 1,000 top predators, including a variety of sharks and yellowfin tuna, gather to eat
Photo: Ralph Pace
Ecosystem
Terrestrial Wildlife WinnerA termite mound in Emas National Park, Brazil, glows with the light produced by the larvae of click beetles
Photo: Marcio Cabral