Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Frenzied bee ball wins top prize

Karine Aigner/WPY

The male bees are touching a single female. Who will get to mate with her?

The grand title winning picture in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition was taken by Karine Aigner.

It is a technical image. It was necessary to use a macro probe lens in order to get a good look at the action.

"I spent a lot of time on my belly in the dirt," she said.

The American is the fifth woman to win the top prize in WPY's 58 years of existence.

I didn't go looking for that thing. I have been working on a ranch in South Texas for a long time. She said that she saw the individual burrows dug by the females to make their nest.

The bees live on and around cacti. The females store the pollen in chambers in the soil. The balls will last until they can surface as adults.

The picture is great, it has a lot of energy. It's a shot for good behavior. The chair of the WPY judges said that she loves them because they are what you get from invertebrates.

The composition is also part of it. The bees come in from the side of the picture. The soundtrack is given to you.

Katanyou Wuttichaitanakorn/WPY

The young wildlife photographer of the year is from Thailand.

The winning entry is a close up of a whale with baleen plates in its mouth.

The sardine flies through the air as it tries to escape being devoured by the cetacean.

The fish jumped in the boat. I was fortunate. The whale stayed above the water for a short time after I got close.

One of the most prestigious photography contests is the WPY.

The competition is organised by the Natural History Museum.

There were 38,575 entries from 93 countries. Some of the winners are listed below.

Brent Stirton/WPY

This year, he won the WPY category for his photojournalism. The end of life of Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla who was rescued as a two-month-old after her troop was brutally killed by a powerful charcoal mafia, is shown in his picture. Ndakasi is in the care of her rescuers.

Junji Takasago/WPY

The Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt pan in the world. The future of the Flamingos is at risk because it is one of the largest Lithium mines in the country. Junji Takasago won the natural artistry category because of his altitude sickness.

Daniel Núñez/WPY

This scene is not a good one. The contrast between the forest and the growth on the lake was captured by Daniel Nez. The presence of pollutants in the water causes the cyanobacteria to grow. The picture won in the Wetlands category.

Tony Wu/WPY

Tony took this picture off the coast of Japan. There is a giant sea star in the picture. Eggs and sperm can be swept into the currents where they can be fertilised together in the water by the echinoderm. The image won a competition.

Fernando Constantino Martínez Belmar/WPY

This picture was taken at the Cave of the Hanging Snakes. Thousands of bats leave the cave to find food. The rat snakes are trying to get a meal of their own as they leave the cave. The picture won a prize.

Dmitry Kokh/WPY

The picture was taken on the island in the Chukchi Sea. There is a scene in the fog that hangs over the abandoned buildings. Dimitry was on the island to stay out of the storm. The predator was getting close to him using a small drone. The picture won an award.

There is an annual exhibition dedicated to the WPY competition at the Natural History Museum in London. It will go on tour around the UK and around the world. From Monday, entries for the 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year can be submitted.