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Image: People's Choice, Underwater

World

Winners of the 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year

From over 11,000 entries, a photo of an orangutan crossing a river in Indonesia has been selected as the grand-prize winner.

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Image: 1st Place Winner, Aerials

1st Place Winner, Aerials

In Sydney, Australia, the Pacific Ocean at high tide breaks over a natural rock pool enlarged in the 1930s. Avoiding the crowds at the city's many beaches, a local swims laps.

Photos were submitted from around the world to one of four categories: wildlife, landscapes, aerials, and underwater.

See the full collection of photographs here.

— Todd Kennedy / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 2nd Place, Aerials

2nd Place, Aerials

Snow-covered metasequoia trees, also called dawn redwoods, interlace over a road in Takashima, Japan.

— Takahiro Bessho / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 3rd Place, Aerials

3rd Place, Aerials

Molten rock from the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii spills into the Pacific Ocean. After erupting in early 2016, the lava flow took about two months to reach the sea, six miles away.

— Greg C. / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: People's Choice, Aerials

People's Choice, Aerials

Green vegetation blooms at the river's edge, or riparian zone, of a meandering canyon in Utah.

— David Swindler / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: Honorable Mention, Aerials

Honorable Mention, Aerials

Migratory gulls take flight from a cedar tree being washed downstream by a glacial river in British Columbia.

— Agathe Bernard / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 1st Place Winner, Underwater

1st Place Winner, Underwater

Blue-filtered strobe lights stimulate fluorescent pigments in the clear tentacles of a tube-dwelling anemone in Hood Canal, Washington.

— Jim Obester / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 2nd Place, Underwater

2nd Place, Underwater

Typically a shy species, a Caribbean reef shark investigates a remote-triggered camera in Cuba's Gardens of the Queen, a protected marine area.

— Shane Gross / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 3rd Place, Underwater

3rd Place, Underwater

Buoyed by the Gulf Stream, a flying fish arcs through the night-dark water five miles off Palm Beach, Florida.

— Michael O'Neill / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: People's Choice, Underwater

People's Choice, Underwater

A Portuguese man-of-war nears the beach on a summer morning. Thousands of these jellyfish wash up on Australia's eastern coast every year.

— Matthew Smith / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: Honorable Mention, Underwater

Honorable Mention, Underwater

Preparing to strike, tarpon cut through a ribbon-like school of scad off the coast of Bonaire in the Caribbean Sea.

— Jennifer ONeil / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 1st Place Winner, Landscapes

1st Place Winner, Landscapes

Shortly before twilight in Kalapana, Hawaii, a fragment of the cooled lava tube broke away, leaving the molten rock to fan in a fiery spray for less than half an hour before returning to a steady flow.

— Karim Iliya / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 2nd Place, Landscapes

2nd Place, Landscapes

Sunlight glances off mineral strata of different colors in Dushanzi Grand Canyon, China.

— Yuhan Liao / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 3rd Place, Landscapes

3rd Place, Landscapes

A summer thunderstorm unleashes lightning on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

— Mike Olbinski / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: People's Choice, Landscapes

People's Choice, Landscapes

Sunset illuminates a lighthouse and rainbow in the Faroe Islands.

— Wojciech Kruczynski / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: Honorable Mention, Landscapes

Honorable Mention, Landscapes

Morning fog blurs the dead trees of Romania's Lake Cuejdel, a natural reservoir created by landslides.

— Gheorghe Popa / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 2nd Place, Wildlife

2nd Place, Wildlife

An adult Caribbean pink flamingo feeds a chick in Yucatan, Mexico. Both parents alternate feeding chicks, at first with a liquid baby food called crop milk, and then with regurgitated food.

— Alejandro Prieto / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: 3rd Place, Wildlife

3rd Place, Wildlife

Two grey herons spar as a white-tailed eagle looks on in Hungary.

— Bence Mate / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: People's Choice, Wildlife

People's Choice, Wildlife

A great gray owl swoops to kill in a New Hampshire field.

— Harry Collins / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: Honorable Mention, Wildlife

Honorable Mention, Wildlife

A Japanese macaque indulges in some grooming time on the shores of the famous hot springs.

— Lance McMillan / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
Image: Winner, Grand Prize

Winner, Grand Prize

A male orangutan peers from behind a tree while crossing a river in Borneo, Indonesia.

— Jayaprakash Joghee Bojan / 2017 National Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
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