Snoozing Polar Bear Takes Top Honors in Photo Contest

It took amateur photographer Nimi Sarikhani three days of searching for polar bears, but he finally happened upon the perfect shot: a young male bear catching a few zees atop a small iceberg, illuminated in northern Norway’s midnight sun.

The poignant image is the winner of the 2023 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award. Sarikhani had slogged through thick fog aboard a ship off Norway's Svalbard archipelago before finding his bear, but it was worth it. A record 75,000 photography and nature fans from around the world voted for their favorite pic from a short list of 25 images.

Tzahi Finkelstein

The winning shot is great, but the four runner-up “highly recommended” photos are no slouches either. The “Happy Turtle,” a Balkan pond turtle having a pleasant encounter with a dragonfly, was captured by Tzahi Finkelstein.

Daniel Dencescu

Daniel Dencescu followed flocks of starlings around Rome and its suburbs for hours until he captured a shot so perfect it looks Photoshopped: an enormous, swirling murmuration that coalesced into the shape of a giant bird.

Mark Boyd

A pair of lionesses administered tender care, simultaneously, to a single cub following a hunt in Kenya's Maasai Mara Mara. Mark Boyd was fortunate enough to be on hand to capture the moment of conscientious grooming.

Audun Rikardsen

Back in northern Norway, Audun Rikardsen devised waterproof housing for his gear and then waited for the perfect shot, which would include both moon jellyfish and the aurora borealis, both aglow in the cool autumnal waters of a fjord outside Tromsø.

The five images will be displayed online and at London's Natural History Museum through June.