Jaw-dropping images win big in the World Nature Photography Awards 2024

Kalum Carter
·9-min read
© Tracey Lund
© Tracey Lund

The World Nature Photography Awards always produces an abundance of exceptional photographs, and this year has been no exception. Some of the best wildlife cameras have been used to capture nature in all its beauty, from portraits of exotic animals to the humble mushroom the competition brings together the best photography from all over the world.

The title of World Nature Photographer of the Year 2024 was awarded to Tracey Lund from the UK, for her image ‘Underwater gannets’, an underwater image that depicts two hungry gannets diving for their meal. Taken whilst on holiday off of the coast of Shetland, UK, Lund used a DSLR in an underwater housing attached to a pole cam, all while sitting on the edge of a boat. The image won gold in the Behaviour - Birds category, one of 14 category winners entered into the grand prize draw.

Speaking on the moment of capture, Lund says, "Thousands of gannets were in the sky above us and then started to dive into the sea after locally caught fish. An unbelievable spectacle to witness, let alone to photograph. I took 1800 images on that day but only had 2 that I could use".

Drawn from a pool of thousands of entries submitted from over 6 continents, Lund's winning image shows exceptional patience and technical skill, awarding her the prestigious title and the $1,000 prize money.

The winners of the 13 other categories and their images can be seen below:

© Ioannis Pavlos Evangelidis
© Ioannis Pavlos Evangelidis
© Richard Li
© Richard Li
© Miki Spitzer
© Miki Spitzer
© Nicolas Remy
© Nicolas Remy
© John Seager
© John Seager
© Bill Klipp
© Bill Klipp
©Chatree Lertsintanakorn
©Chatree Lertsintanakorn
© Alex Brackx
© Alex Brackx
©Celia Kujala
©Celia Kujala
© Roy Wiesner
© Roy Wiesner
© Andy Schmid
© Andy Schmid
© Amit Eshel
© Amit Eshel
© Ivan Pedretti
© Ivan Pedretti

The Gold prize category winners are an exceptional example of wildlife and nature photography, a big congratulations to all of the winners.

Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the WNPAs says, “Our winners never fail to take our breath away with their stunning images. As always, it’s such a joy to see the amazing caliber of entries into the awards".

A full list of winners and runners-up can be found on the World Photography Nature Awards website, along with details on how to enter the World Photography Nature Awards 2025 which has now opened for calls.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories

  • The world’s 100 worst polluted cities are in Asia — and 83 of them are in just one country

    All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide.

  • Russian missiles strike four Ukrainian thermal power stations

    Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukrainian power facilities on Saturday, hitting locations in the centre and west of the country, damaging equipment and injuring at least one energy worker, officials said. Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said on the Telegram messaging app that the Russian strikes targeted the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine and the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, said its four thermal powe

  • A coal billionaire is building the world’s biggest clean energy plant and it’s five times the size of Paris

    The scale of the project transforming swathes of barren salt desert on the edge of western India into one of the most important sources of clean energy anywhere on the planet is so overwhelming that the man in charge can’t keep up.

  • The Indian villagers who lost their homes to the sea

    The gentle roar of the ocean lulled Indian mother-of-two Banita Behra to sleep each night, until one day the encroaching tide reached her doorstep.Jagbandhu Behra -- no relation to Banita -- was unable to find a job to support himself in the Bagapatia resettlement colony after leaving Satabhaya.

  • 20 Most Air Polluted Cities in Asia

    In this article, we will look into the 20 most air polluted cities in Asia. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Most Air Polluted Cities in Asia. Air Pollution in Asia 99 out of the 100 most air polluted cities in the world are from Asia. […]

  • A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake shakes Indonesia's Java Island, felt in Jakarta

    A strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake shook the southern part of Indonesia’s main island of Java on Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of injury or significant property damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck 102 kilometers (63 miles) south of Banjar city at a depth of 68.3 kilometers (42.4 miles). High-rises in the capital Jakarta swayed for around a minute and two-story homes shook strongly in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung and in Jakarta’s satellite cities of Depok, Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi.

  • ‘It was wet. It was filthy. It was aggressive. I said, I’ll take the racoon. But keeping exotic pets is cruel’

    Lindsay McKenna’s wildlife centre takes in exotic animals when owners can’t cope. She and other experts fear the law is failing the very animals it is designed to protect

  • Live water main fix goes wrong

    This is the moment a worker who said he could easily pull off fixing a leaking main in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 1 while the water was still flowing ended up causing a small flood around the pipe.

  • L.A. supervisors oppose plan to eradicate Catalina deer by shooting them from helicopters

    Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn drafted an opposition response to a proposal to shoot Catalina Island's invasive mule deer population from helicopters.

  • British tourist in intensive care after Tobago shark attack

    A British tourist is in intensive care after suffering serious injuries in a rare shark attack off the coast of Tobago.

  • Tobago shark attack: British man Peter Smith injured 10 metres from shore

    Peter Smith, 64, was 10 metres off the shore when he was attacked by a bull shark, a local official says.

  • Ukrainian drones strike oil refineries and airfield in major overnight attack

    A large-scale Ukrainian drone attack hit two Russian oil refineries and a military airfield overnight, causing a major fire at one of the refineries that put it out of operation.

  • Met Office UK weather forecast for 27/04/2024

    Met Office UK weather forecast for 27/04/2024

  • B.C. man captures video of 2 bear cubs waking from winter slumber

    A winter walk paid off months later for a Prince George, B.C., family who captured footage of a family of bears waking up from hibernation. Serge Wolf lives on a rural property with his wife and two children in the north-central B.C. city, about 500 kilometres north of Vancouver. Wolf and his family were hiking through the woods in January when his four-year-old daughter noticed a hole in the ground. "I thought immediately, well, it has to be a den," Wolf said. His suspicions were confirmed when

  • COLUMN-China's transition hampered by flat-lining energy intensity: Kemp

    China's economy has become much less energy intensive over the last 40 years as its industries have modernised and the economy has shifted towards more service sector output. But energy intensity has flatlined for the last five years making it much harder to displace coal by renewables and meet the government's objective of capping total emissions. China converted 1 tonne of standard coal or its equivalent in other forms of energy (including wind and solar generation) into gross domestic product worth 21,000 yuan in 2023.

  • Whale calf free after being trapped for more than a month

    An orca whale calf that had been stranded for weeks in a lagoon in British Columbia is now free

  • Russia hits Ukrainian energy sites in 'massive' overnight attack

    Russia launched a "massive" missile strike at Ukraine overnight, damaging four power plants in the latest barrage targeting the country's energy supply, officials in Kyiv said on Saturday.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Kyiv's Western partners to supply more air defence systems to protect his country's skies, as the air force said it shot down 21 of 34 incoming missiles.Moscow has launched some of its biggest ever strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities in recent months, knocking out a significant chunk of production, and triggering blackouts and energy rationing across the country.Ukraine also fired more than 60 drones at southern Russia overnight, Moscow said, in one of its largest overnight drone attacks. Kyiv claimed to have hit two oil refineries and a military air base."Thirty-four Russian missiles overnight. We managed to shoot down some of them. But the world has every opportunity to help (us) shoot down every missile and every drone," Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.Energy facilities were hit in at least three regions -- including Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west, hundreds of kilometres from the front line -- Energy Minister German Galushchenko said in a Facebook post.One of the missiles landed 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the Polish-Ukrainian border, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.Kyiv says Moscow is escalating attacks from the air and on land ahead of nationwide celebrations on May 9, when Russia marks victory in World War II, and while Ukraine awaits the arrival of crucial US weapons.- Energy rationing -The DTEK power operator said equipment at four of its thermal power plants was "severely damaged" in the overnight strikes.State electricity operator Ukrenergo said it had disconnected its main overhead power line in the west of the country as a preventative measure.Officials urged people and businesses to limit their power usage."We ask all consumers to consume electricity sparingly. Industry is asked to maximise electricity imports and use alternative power sources," Ukrenergo said in a statement.The head of the western Lviv region called on residents not to use kettles, irons, washing machines and microwaves between seven pm and ten pm to preserve limited energy supplies.At least two people were killed in separate shelling attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region and southern Kherson region, Ukrainian officials said.The spate of missile and artillery attacks also injured more than a dozen.- 68 drones downed -Ukraine launched its own massive drone attack on Russia's southern Krasnodar region overnight.A Ukrainian defence source told AFP its drones had hit two oil refineries and a military airfield in the region, just east of the annexed Crimean peninsula."Ukrainian drones struck the atmospheric distillation columns of the Ilsky and Slovyansky refineries. These are key technological facilities," the source said.Russian officials in the Krasnodar region reported a fire at an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban.The refinery partially suspended operations as a result, Russian state media reported, citing a company representative.Videos and photos on social media showed a large fire raging overnight at the site after a series of blasts.Moscow said Ukraine had launched one of its largest ever attempted overnight drone attacks on the Krasnodar region."Air defences destroyed and intercepted 66 Ukrainian drones over the territory of the Krasnodar region and two over the Crimean peninsula," the defence ministry said.The governor of Russia's Belgorod border region said later on Saturday that five people were injured when a Ukrainian drone fell on a road a few kilometres from the border.Kyiv has hit several oil refineries in western Russia in recent months, despite reports of concern in Washington that the strikes could be seen as escalatory and might drive up global oil prices.Ukraine says targeting Russia's vital energy sector is legitimate as it is a source of fuel and funds for the Russian army.bur-jc/bp

  • Conservation efforts lending a helping hand to global biodiversity, study says

    The decade-long research is the biggest of its kind ever completed.

  • California battery storage increasing rapidly, but not enough to end blackouts, Gov. Newsom says

    Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that California continued to rapidly add the battery storage that is critical to the transition to cleaner energy, but admitted it was not enough to avoid blackouts during heat waves.

  • 18 Tropical Rainforest Animals You Should Know

    A rainforest is simply a forest that receives a lot of rain. But when you think "rainforest," the image that comes to mind is probably a tropical rainforest: one located near the equator, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.