2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Wildfire at the Beach - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Sergej Chursyn/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

No snow, no ice? - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

No snow, no ice?, Honourable mention, Environmental Issues category. A lone bear looking for sea ice. (Patty Waymire/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

American Flowers #1 - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

American Flowers #1, Honourable mention, Environmental Issues category. The photo features the waste left behind by Americans during World War II (Ken Bower/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Toxic Vanity - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Toxic Vanity, Third place winner, Environmental Issues category. The photo features ocean plastic debris photographed in a microscope (Eleanor Ryder/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Struggle of Life, First place winner, Landscape category (Jacob Kaptein/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Life and Death - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Life and Death, First place winner, Environmental Issues. These polar bear remains have been discovered at one of the islands of Northern Svalbard. Unfortunately we do not know definitely whether the bear died from starving or aging, but more likely if we see the good teeth status - from starving . They say nowadays such remains to be founded very often - global warming and ice situation influence the polar bear population a lot (Vadim Balakin/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Peacock Mantis Shrimp on Guard - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Peacock Mantis Shrimp on Guard, Animal Portraits (David Seaman/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Friendship - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Friendship, Action category Horse Chelsy and dog Flou running together (Dalia Fichmann/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Sardine Run - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Sardine Run, Grand Prize winner (Greg Lecoeur/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

The View Outside Facebook HQ - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

The View Outside Facebook HQ, Second place winner, Environmental Issues category. Nella foto si vede un grande stagno in cui viene fatta confluire l'acqua ad alta salinità dalla baia di San Francisco, per farla evaporare e raccogliere il sale. I microrganismi all'interno dello stagno, a seconda del livello di salinità, cambiano il colore dell'acquae. Questo stagno si trova proprio accanto alla sede di Facebook (Chris McCann//2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Serendipitous Green Meteor - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Serendipitous Green Meteor, Honourable mention, Landscape category. (Prasenjeet Yadav/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Crow chasing Puffy Owl - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Crow chasing Puffy Owl, Honorable mention of the Animal Portraits category. A crow chasing away the puffy owl from its territory.(Lawrence Chia Boon Oo/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Puffin Studio - 2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Puffin studio, Honorable mention of the Animal Portraits category. The photo, shot on the Skomer island, Wales, features a puffin in the rain (Mario Suarez Porras/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Friendship Knows No Colour - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Friendship Knows No Colour, Third place winner of the Animal Portraits category. Two Empusa Pennata in Las Rozas, Spain (Jose Pesquero Gomez/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Approach - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Approach, second prize winner of the Action category. A tornado in Wray, Colorado (Tori Shea-Ostberg/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Changing Fortunes of the Great Egret, Third place winner, Action category (Zsolt Kudich/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Pacific Storm - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Pacific Storm, Third place winner, Landscape category (Jose Pesquero Gomez/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Wild Rink - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Wild Rink, Second Place winner, Landscape category. (Alessandro Gruzza/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Jellyfish Feast - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Jellyfish Feast, Honourable mention, Action category. This photo reminds us the precious ecosystemic role sea turtles play. (Scott Portelli/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)

Proud Momma - National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

Proud Momma, Second place winner of the Animal Portraits category. A female Cichla ocellaris surrounded by its young in a lake in Miami, Florida (Michael O’Neill/2016 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year)