Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 winning images
By Jill Dando News
The Grand Title award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 60 has gone to Shane Gross for his captivating image of ribbons of tadpoles swimming through a pond.
In The Swarm of Life, a drove of inky-black and gold western toad tadpoles swim among towering plants and algae in an ethereal underwater world in British Columbia, Canada.
The image, taken by Canadian marine conservation journalist Shane Gross, has been awarded 2024’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The judges thought that this exceptional image not only demonstrated how beauty in the natural world can be found wherever we look, but also perfectly illustrated how animals, plants and the environment are intrinsically linked.
“The jury was captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles,” explains Kathy Moran, Photo Editor and Chair of the Jury for Wildlife Photographer of the Year. “We were equally excited by the addition of a new species to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year archive.”
“Over the last few years, the competition has highlighted environments and species that are often overlooked yet provoke the same wonder and delight when shared as the more typically photographed wildlife and wild places.”
Schooling tadpoles
This year’s winning image focuses on the glittering tadpoles of the western toad. The amphibians are native to western North America, where they can be found from Baja California in the south to Alaska in the north.
The toads are dependent on wet environments such as lakes, marshes, ponds and bogs, requiring open water to breed in. This typically occurs between February and August, during which the females will lay long strings of thousands of eggs and wrap them around any vegetation in the shallow margins.
These eggs will then hatch, producing enormous schools of tadpoles. As Dr Jeff Streicher, the Natural History Museum’s curator of amphibians, explains, the life cycle of amphibians means that species have a whole range of different behaviours.
“Frogs and toads have evolved loads of really interesting larval behaviours,” explains Jeff.
“It’s an interesting situation as many amphibians have this biphasic life cycle where they’ve got free living aquatic larvae that then metamorphose into terrestrial adults. And there’s lots of variants on that.”
Some produce aquatic larvae that then change into aquatic frogs. Others lay their eggs on land, where they then develop directly into their adult form. Then there are some specialised species whose adults nurture their eggs and larvae on their own backs.
But it’s when a species of amphibian produces thousands of larvae within a single pond that this fascinating schooling behaviour appears.
“In the species of toads and frogs that have aquatic larvae there are a couple of interesting schooling behaviours that have evolved where, just like fish, the tadpoles will stick together,” explains Jeff.
For the western toad, though, “especially early in the breeding season there’ll often be scenarios like you see in the picture where a water body is just loaded with these recently hatched tadpoles.”
It is this sheer number of individuals that makes the tadpoles critical components of the ponds in which they live. Many of the unfortunate amphibians will fall prey to insects, other frogs and salamanders.
But the biggest threat to these toads is likely coming from humans. While the western toad has a large range and is doing well in general, some populations seem to be more at risk than others. This seems to be particularly true for those living at high elevations, where climate change could be harming their numbers.
This winning image, however, showcases a thriving local ecosystem in which the toads, plants and water all rely on each other in a demonstration of the interconnectedness of life.
Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024
The award for Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 has gone to Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, who managed to capture this extraordinary image of a raspberry-coloured springtail next to a ballooning slime mould.
Measuring just a few millimetres across, these minuscule creatures were found living under a log. But Alexis wasn’t only contending with their small size to take this image, as springtails are notoriously quick.
Despite these challenges, Alexis managed to snap 36 images at slightly differing focal lengths before combining them to make this exquisite image showcasing the tiny life that exists in the soil.
“A photographer attempting to capture this moment not only brings great skill, but incredible attention to detail, patience and perseverance,” says Kathy. “To see a macro image of two species photographed on the forest floor, with such skill, is exceptional.”
Wildlife Photographer of the Year turns 60
The competition marks the sixtieth anniversary of Wildlife Photographer of the Year. For decades this competition has revealed the beauty, wonder and vulnerability of the natural world.
“Wildlife Photographer of the Year’s longevity is a testament to the vital importance and growing appreciation of our natural world,” explains Dr Doug Gurr, the Director of the Natural History Museum. “We are delighted to feature such inspiring images in this year’s portfolio – these are photographs that not only encourage further wildlife conservation efforts, but that spark the creation of real advocates for our planet on a global scale.”
This year’s competition saw record-breaking 59,228 entries from 117 countries and territories. They highlight the whole range of diversity of life on our planet, from falcons hunting butterflies and glittering seaweed to dolphins swimming through submerged forests.
The exhibition featuring the 100 awarded images will open on Friday 11 October 2024 at the Natural History Museum, London. Book your tickets now.
