Glorious Gannet Portrait Wins World Nature Photography Awards

The World Nature Photography Awards announced the winners of its 2024 contest, celebrating the best in nature and wildlife photography. British photographer Tracey Lund won the top prize for her stunning portrait of a pair of gannets swimming off the coast of the Shetland Islands.

Lund’s winning image featured above also took the Gold award in the “Behavior — Birds” category. Lund bested photographers in a vast pool of entrants from six continents.

“Taken whilst on holiday in Shetland, sat on the side of a RIB. The hired DSLR camera in the waterproof housing was attached to [a] polecam system and lowered into the water. Thousands of gannets were in the sky above us and then started to dive into the sea after locally-caught fish. An unbelievable spectacle to witness, let alone photograph. I took 1,800 images on that day but only had two that I could use,” Lund explains.

“Our winners never fail to take our breath away with their stunning images. As always, it’s such a joy to see the amazing caliber of entries into the awards,” says Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the World Nature Photography Awards.

The top three images — the silver and bronze winners in the case of the Behavior — Birds category — from all 14 categories are featured below.

Animal Portraits

Behavior — Amphibians and Reptiles

Behavior — Birds

Behavior — Mammals

Behavior — Invertebrates

Nature Art

People and Nature

Plants and Fungi

Underwater

Planet Earth’s Landscapes and Environments

Black and White

Animals in Their Habitat

Urban Wildlife

Nature Photojournalism

This year, for the first time, a selection of winning images from this year’s contest and prior years will be available to purchase as wall art in a dedicated online store.

“We’re thrilled that people will now have the chance to buy some of these images to grace the walls of their homes. What’s more, we’re planning to plant a tree for every piece of wall art we sell,” Dinsdale adds.

Photographers can now enter next year’s contest. The complete entry details and rules are available on the World Nature Photography Awards website.

Image credits: World Nature Photography Awards. Individual photographers are credited in the captions.