The stunning winning images from the 2021 World Nature Photography Awards (WNPA) highlight the world’s extraordinary wildlife. This year’s highlights include:
- A glimpse at how ants work together as a team.
- A humpback whale with the iconic New York City skyline in the background.
- And an orangutan striking a pose.
There are 14 categories within the competition, covering everything from mammals, birds, and amphibian behaviors to plants and landscapes. The jury awards gold, silver, and bronze in each category, alongside an overall Photographer of the Year prize of $1,000 to the best single shot.
This year’s grand prize winner went to U.S. photographer Amos Nachoum for an impressive shot of a leopard seal about to eat a small defenseless Gentoo penguin. Nachoum’s shot took hours of patiently waiting in a shallow lagoon on the remote island of Plano, off the Antarctic Peninsula. First, Nachoum had to wait for the precise moment at low tide when the seals sneakily enter a lagoon and hunt for their prey. Then, he tracked this particular seal after it first caught the penguin.

Nachoum explained:
“Once the seal reached open water, I followed it and swam parallel to it, observing its actions. To my surprise, it let go of the penguin twice. Each time, the seal chased after the penguin again, as if it was enjoying the game. The terrified penguin tried to escape as the game continued. But soon, the end came.”
Another captivating shot, from photographer Matthijs Noome, shows a humpback whale diving underwater in front of the New York City skyline. This image was chosen as the winner in the Urban Wildlife category. Noome had tried to get this perfect shot for a very long time, but it wasn’t until recently that the whales returned to local waters.

Noome said:
Finally got the shot I wanted: a humpback’s fluke with the New York City downtown skyline in the distance. As water quality measures and conservation efforts have started to show real results over the last years, humpback whales are becoming a common sight more and more in New York waters.
According to the co-founder of the WNPA, Adrian Dinsdale, the competition initially began with the belief that spectacular nature photography can help people appreciate the natural world more and, in due course, change their environmentally damaging behaviors.

Dinsdale applauded the World Nature Photography Award winners:
As always, it’s such a thrill to see the amazing caliber of entries into the awards. Seeing these images cannot fail to motivate one to do everything to protect this fragile planet of ours. We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners.
Should you be interested in submitting nature photos to the 2022 WNPA, the deadline is June 30. Entries are eligible from all countries worldwide from professional and amateur photographers as long as they are over 18 years old.
Check out the photos below to see more of the latest inspiring WNPA winners.












