This dramatic shot of a northern gannet diving for prey bested 24,000 other images to win the overall prize in the .
The photo was taken off Shetland, UK, as the bird hunted for fish to feed its offspring. When gannets spot fish, they turn to fly into the wind, stretch out their wings as brakes, precisely adjust their position and then dive-bomb into the water with wings tucked at speeds of up to 86 kilometres per hour.
They have evolved to handle this dramatic moment, with muscles that lock their vertebrae into position, air sacs in the face and chest to protect from impact, and nostrils that prevent jets of water entering.
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“The handsome northern gannets lead a dualistic existence,” said Spiers in an announcement about the win. “In the nest, their newborn is carefully nurtured, and a couple’s bond is reinforced by pointing sharp beaks to the sky as they tenderly stroke their white necks together. In flight, hunting mode takes over, and piercing yellow eyes, fringed with blue circles, scour the sea for prey.”
Spiers had been diving in the chilly, 10°C (50°F) waters of Shetland when he realised the sun was visible from his position under the sea. “Even in summer, sunshine is far from guaranteed in this remote British archipelago, so my creative engine started firing when the sunball was visible from underwater. I envisioned the shot of the gannet diving straight through the middle of it, and dedicated my entire dive to capturing that single frame,” he says. “The gannets were diving all around me, but I refused to be distracted and kept my camera pointed at the sun. After a long wait, a gannet finally dived through in the perfect spot and I met the bird as it careened under the sea. The moment was over in a split second.”
A bronze award in the prize’s portrait category was given to David Stowe, who captured this western parotia (Parotia sefilata), below, dancing in the dark rainforest of West Papua, Indonesia, in a dazzling attempt to attract a female.
Donald Chin photographed this protective tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides), shown below, near Perth in Australia. As rain falls in the forest, this fledgling seems to raise a wing to cover its siblings. Chin won a gold award in the “bird behaviour” category of the prize.
The below image by Alex Pansier features hundreds, if not thousands, of guillemots (Uria aalge) in flight over Hornøya, Norway. The repeating shapes have an Escher-like quality. Pansier took a silver award in the “birds in flight” category of the prize.
Luca Eberle from Italy photographed the – unfortunately killed, stuffed and discarded – Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) shown below in Malta. Authorities inspect taxidermy samples to catch illegal hunting of protected species like this one, causing some collectors to dispose of older specimens. Here, a BirdLife Malta officer is shown finding the stuffed vulture, which had been left by the roadside. Eberle won a bronze award in the “conservation, single image” category for this shot.
Another underwater shot, from Romain Barats, features gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) feeding in Charcot Bay, Antarctica, below. Barats was snorkelling when a raft of gentoo penguins appeared to fish and feed on krill. “These iconic birds are incredibly curious so they went straight to me to evaluate if I could be a threat or not. They spent a while swimming so fast around me,” he said in an announcement about the competition, in which he won a bronze award in the “birds in the environment” category.
