Norwegian photographer Audun Rikardsen, who mainly photographs wildlife, has had this image named to the “Highly Commended” list at this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, organised by London’s Natural History Museum. While working as a guide for Arctic Wildlife Tours, Rikardsen set up an underwater-capable, motion-sensor camera beneath a seal’s breathing hole, then waited. At 4am, a female polar bear arrived and looked down into the hole. Rikardsen then waited eight hours for the bear to move away before retrieving the camera and reviewing the images. When he saw what he had captured, he said: “I was incredibly happy. I was shouting, so I probably woke up every polar bear for miles around.”
Rikardsen has previously won two categories at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition — “Birds” in 2019, and “Oceans: The Bigger Picture” in 2025. This year’s winners will be announced on October 13, followed by an exhibition at London’s Natural History Museum. Here are some more Highly Commended images from the competition, along with the stories behind them.
The Art of Flying
Crawford was watching swifts return to London after their annual migration from Africa. The birds’ sharp calls filled the sky. Most were flying too high to photograph, but a few flying lower gave him the chance to capture the shot he wanted. Swifts spend almost their entire lives in the air, typically only landing at their own nests.
Urban Wanderer
Photographer Miyazawa spotted a toad making its way along a city street after rainfall. He photographed it at a slow shutter speed before it leapt back into the bushes. This Eastern Japanese toad species is typically found in eastern Japan’s forests, grasslands and other terrestrial habitats, but has proven remarkably able to adapt to urban environments too.
Lifted to the Surface
While flying a drone for the Norwegian Orca Survey, which studies killer whales seen along Norway’s coast, photographer Aasen saw an adult orca carrying the body of a dead calf. In a Norwegian fjord, the orca kept letting the calf sink, then bringing it back to the surface again. The scene was difficult to watch, but Aasen felt it was important to document. This behaviour could be an attempt to revive or protect the calf. Killer whales have been seen carrying dead calves before — in one case, a female whale carried her dead calf for at least 17 days. A 2026 study suggested this kind of behaviour may be more widespread in the species than previously thought.
Biting Back
While reviewing their images, the Gramatico twins realised they had also captured a mosquito perched on the head of a fer-de-lance viper. They described it as “one of the most difficult focus stacks we’ve ever made.” This highly venomous snake is responsible for more fatal snakebites than any other species in Central America. It camouflages extremely well and can blend into farmland, sometimes going unnoticed by workers.
Wings of Darkness
Parkinson photographed a black vulture perched on a dead caiman in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands, keeping his boat at a distance and using a long telephoto lens. After the vulture flew off, a jaguar waiting out of frame moved in and took over the carcass. Parkinson then noticed an unusually clean, straight wound on the back of the yacare caiman’s head, which he suspects was likely caused by a fast-moving boat strike.
Eye of the Storm
While photographing a Namaqua chameleon in the Namib Desert, the wind suddenly picked up and a sandstorm began. Visibility dropped rapidly and even breathing became difficult. These chameleons are desert specialists — they can collect moisture directly from the air. Dew that condenses on their skin flows toward their mouths along microscopic grooves. Their tongues can also collect fog condensation from plants, sand and rocks.
Flock of Gold
Mate was watching birds gather near a small body of water when thousands of red-billed quelea suddenly descended to drink in the golden afternoon light. The photographer said the movement of so many wings together created a gust of wind that could be felt from as far as 30 metres away. These birds can form flocks of up to two million members. The species’ total breeding population is estimated at up to 1.5 billion, making it thought to be the most numerous bird species on Earth.
Mutual Friends
While searching for wildlife in a protected area, Porter watched a red-billed oxpecker rubbing its beak against a white rhino. These birds eat insects off the rhino’s body and can also act as a sentinel, calling out to warn the rhino when danger approaches. In Swahili, the bird is called “askari wa kifaru,” meaning “the rhino’s guard.”
Up a Tree Without a Squirrel
Hutton watched a young leopard chase a squirrel up a tree, having earlier seen the same leopard fail to catch a hare. The squirrel escaped further up, and the leopard, after clinging to the trunk for a while, climbed back down awkwardly. Survival is far from guaranteed for young leopards — fewer than half reach the age of independence. Male leopards, lions and other predators all pose threats to them.
Split-Second Escape
An African bullfrog lunged at a butterfly, but missed. Coleman had seen tadpoles on an earlier visit after heavy rain. Returning the following month, he found ponds and pits full of young bullfrogs. Over more than two weeks, he watched the young frogs “eating anything that moved.” Adult African bullfrogs can grow up to 12 centimetres long and spend around 10 months of the year dormant underground, emerging after rain to breed and feed.
Hidden Dragon
Location: WildSumaco Biological Station, Napo Province, Ecuador. Eugene was photographing a lichen dragon katydid just 15 millimetres long. It blended so well with the surrounding moss that it was hard to distinguish. He spotted it only when it moved, and even then it remained difficult to separate from the background in the viewfinder. This species is found only in Ecuador’s Andes mountains. Its spiky armour protects it from predators that manage to see through its camouflage.
Calm Amid the Storm
Gross was photographing a school of bigeye trevally near the shore at sunrise as a storm approached. To create a split-level image capturing both above and below the water, he held the camera upside down while balancing while floating, and slowly approached the curious fish. Bigeye trevally are fished across much of the world, but here they are relatively safe. In 2023, the waters around D’Arros Island were declared a marine protected area and designated a no-fishing zone, part of a global initiative in which various governments have committed to protecting 30 percent of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030.
Pool-Time Pastime
Elliott spent hours looking out through a local resident’s kitchen window, hoping to photograph black bears that often passed through the garden. He captured one bear diving into the garden pond — highlighting the increasingly common overlap between wildlife and residential life in Los Angeles County, where housing developments have encroached on bear habitat.
Ocean Protector
A sea hare drifted slowly through an eelgrass meadow in the shallow waters of Monterey Bay. Pace was photographing there in the evening light. He saw the scene as a hopeful image, of “a gentle giant protecting the ocean’s last green meadows.” By feeding on red algae, which sometimes blocks sunlight from reaching the meadow, sea hares play a role in eelgrass recovery. Eelgrass is vital to coastal ecosystems and is also an important carbon store.
The Show Goes On
Hearing that a circus featuring animal performances had come to town, Rojas went to document it. There, he saw a brown bear riding a small motorcycle. The bear had a muzzle on and was tied to the motorcycle. To him, the scene captured the contrast between the animal’s wild nature and the human-made environment forced upon it.