Wildlife Photographer Of The Year: Tadpoles take the top prize from almost 60,000 entries of world’s greatest animal and nature pictures
A marine conservation photojournalist’s “magical” picture shining a light on the underwater world of a tadpole species has earned him the title of Wildlife Photographer Of The Year.
Shane Gross, from Canada, captured the western toad tadpoles while snorkelling through lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
He managed to snap a cloud of the amphibians, which are a near-threatened species due to habitat destruction and predators, while avoiding the visibility-reducing layers of silt and algae covering the bottom.
Titled The Swarm Of Life, the photograph has been crowned the winner of the Natural History Museum’s prestigious Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2024 competition out of a record-breaking 59,228 entries, from 117 countries and territories.
Kathy Moran, chair of the jury, said they were “captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles”.
This is the first time the species has been featured in the competition, which is now in its 60th year, she added.
Life Under Dead Wood
Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, from Germany, was awarded the title of Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, for an up-close image featuring slime mould on the right, and a macroscopic animal called a springtail on the left, taken in Berlin.
Tinker-Tsavalas used a technique called focus stacking, combining 36 images with different areas of focus together.
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Judges said it showed great skill and “incredible attention to detail, patience and perseverance”.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the competition, impact awards for both adult and young photographers were introduced this year, recognising conservation success.
Recording By Hand
The young impact award was given to Liwia Pawłowska, from Poland, for her image of a common whitethroat taken during a bird ringing, a technique that records length, sex, condition and age to help scientists monitor populations and track migration.
Hope For The Ninu
In the adult category, Australian photographer Jannico Kelk picked up the prize for a picture of a greater bilby, a small marsupial also referred to as the ninu, which was one near extinction due to predators such as foxes and cats. Fenced reserves, however, have allowed the population to grow.
Here are the other category winners.
Free As A Bird – Alberto Roman Gomez, Spain (10 and under)
Alberto watched from the window of his father’s car at the edge of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park, in Cadiz, Andalusia, to take this picture – managing to capture the stonechat bird as it was perched, between trips to gather insects.
An Evening Meal – Parham Pourahmad, USA (11-14)
Parham visited the Ed R Levin County Park in Milpitas, California, most weekends over a summer to take photographs showing the wildlife living in a busy city park. This picture shows a young Cooper’s hawk eating a squirrel in the last rays of sunset.
Frontier of the Lynx – Igor Metelskiy, Russia
A lynx stretches in the early evening sunshine in the Lazovsky District in Primorsky Krai, Russia. The remote location and changing weather conditions meant access was tricky, and it took more than six months of waiting for Metelskiy to capture the image of the elusive animal.
On Watch – John E Marriott, Canada
This image also features a lynx, this one with its fully grown young sheltering from the wind behind it. Marriott had tracked the family group for almost a week through snowy forests in Yukon.
Practice Makes Perfect – Jack Zhi, USA
A young falcon practises its hunting skills on a butterfly above its sea-cliff nest. This was taken in an area in Los Angeles, California, visited by Zhi over the past eight years.
A Tranquil Moment – Hikkaduwa Liyanage Prasantha Vinod, Sri Lanka
This picture shows a young toque macaque sleeping in an adult’s arms, taken after a morning of photographing birds and leopards at the Wilpattu National Park. Vinod spotted a troop of the macaques moving through trees above, and used a telephoto lens to frame this moment as a young monkey slept between feeds.
Wetland Wrestle – Karine Aigner, USA
Karine Aigner was leading a tour group when she noticed an odd shape in the water along the Transpantaneira Highway, in Mato Grosso, Brazil – binoculars confirmed she was looking at a flash of a yellow anaconda, coiling itself around the snout of a yacare caiman.
The Demolition Squad – Ingo Arndt, Germany
Arndt’s image shows the dismemberment of a blue ground beetle by red wood ants – carving the dead animal into pieces tiny enough to fit through the entrance to their nest in Hessen, Germany.
The Artful Crow – Jiri Hrebicek, Czech Republic
This perching carrion crow, pictured in Basel, Switzerland, looks almost like an impressionist painting, judges said. To create the effect, Hrebicek moved his camera in different directions, while using a long shutter speed.
A Diet of Deadly Plastic – Justin Gilligan, Australia
A mosaic created from some 403 pieces of plastic found inside the digestive tract of a dead flesh-footed shearwater, taken on Lord Howe Island, New South Wales. Gilligan took the picture while documenting the work of Adrift Lab, which brings biologists from different countries together to study the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems.
Old Man of the Glen – Fortunato Gatto, Italy
Gatto captured these pale “old man’s beard’ lichens on a gnarled birch tree in the pinewoods of Glen Affric, in the Scottish Highlands. The lichens indicate it as an area of minimal air pollution – in a forest which has stood for at least 8,300 years, according to pollen analysis.
Under the Waterline – Matthew Smith, UK/Australia
Smith used a specially made extension he designed for the front of his underwater camera housing to create this split image of a leopard seal beneath the Antarctic ice in Paradise Harbour. The young seal made several close, curious passes, he said. “When it looked straight into the lens barrel, I knew I had something good.”
Tiger in Town – Robin Darius Conz, Germany
A tiger sits on a hillside against the backdrop of a town where forests once grew in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India. Conz was following the big cat as part of a documentary team filming the wildlife of the Western Ghats.
Dusting for New Evidence – Britta Jaschinski, Germany/UK
Jaschinski spent time at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) border force department, where confiscated animal products are tested. This image shows a crime scene investigator from London’s Met Police dusting for prints on a confiscated tusk at Heathrow Airport.
Dolphins of the Forest – Thomas Peschak, Germany/South Africa
Peschak documents the relationship between endangered Amazon river dolphins, which are also known as botos or pink river dolphins, and the people with whom they share their home in the waters of both Brazil and Colombia.
The Serengeti of the Sea – Sage Ono, USA
Sage Ono decided to take up underwater photography after being inspired by stories told by his grandfather, a retired marine biologist. This image, taken in the kelp forests in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, California, shows tube-snout fish eggs sparkling next to the glowing kelp.
The Wildlife Photographer Of The Year 2024 exhibition opens at the Natural History Museum, London, on Friday 11 October
Entertainment
It Ends With Us star Justin Baldoni sues New York Times for libel over Blake Lively harassment allegations
Actor and director Justin Baldoni has sued The New York Times newspaper for libel after it published allegations that he had sexually harassed and tried to smear the reputation of his It Ends With Us co-star Blake Lively.
The lawsuit, which seeks at least $250m (£199m) in damages, was the latest in a legal battle that has engulfed the two stars. Lively has filed a separate federal lawsuit against Baldoni and others alleging harassment.
The Baldoni lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday by the director, 40, and by other defendants named in the Lively lawsuit.
It accuses The New York Times of accepting a “self-serving narrative” by the actress, 37, who claimed Baldoni, production company Wayfarer Studios and others attempted to damage her reputation after she and her husband Ryan Reynolds, 48, addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour” by the actor and a producer on the set of the film.
According to Lively’s complaint, the plan included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and place news stories that are critical of her.
But Baldoni’s libel lawsuit claims The Times article, which was called ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine, “disregard[s] an abundance of evidence” that contradicts Lively’s accusations.
Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds at the premiere of It Ends With Us. Pic: AP
The Times has defended its reporting and said it plans to “vigorously defend” against the lawsuit.
In a statement, it said: “The role of an independent news organisation is to follow the facts where they lead.
“Our story was meticulously and responsibly reported. It was based on a review of thousands of pages of original documents, including the text messages and emails that we quote accurately and at length in the article.”
Baldoni was dropped by his agency, WME, immediately after Lively filed her complaint and The Times published its story. The agency represents both Lively and Reynolds.
Bryan Freedman, a lawyer who represents Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives, previously called the accusations “completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media”.
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Why is Blake Lively suing Justin Baldoni?
He said on Wednesday that The Times had “aided and abetted their own devastating PR smear campaign designed to revitalise Lively’s self-induced floundering public image and counter the organic groundswell of criticism amongst the online public”.
Lively is not a defendant in the libel lawsuit against the paper.
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In a statement, lawyers representing the actress said: “Nothing in this lawsuit changes anything about the claims advanced in Ms Lively’s California Civil Rights Department Complaint, nor her federal complaint, filed earlier today.”
It Ends With Us, which is an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was shrouded by speculation over discord between the lead pair at the time of its release in August.
Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centre stage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for Deadpool & Wolverine at the same time.
Neil Young has announced he will not be performing at this year’s Glastonbury, saying he believes the BBC’s involvement in the popular festival means it is “now under corporate control”.
The 79-year-old musician wrote on his website that both he and his band, The Chrome Hearts, were pulling out because it was a “corporate turn-off”.
Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in summer, has worked closely with the BBC since 1997.
The BBC is the festival’s exclusive broadcast partner.
Canadian-born Young had yet to be announced as an act at this year’s event.
Posting on Neil Young Archives, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer wrote: “The Chrome Hearts and I were looking forward to playing Glastonbury, one of my all-time favourite outdoor gigs.
“We were told that BBC was now a partner in Glastonbury and wanted us to do a lot of things in a way we were not interested in.
“It seems Glastonbury is now under corporate control and is not the way I remember it being.”
Young performing at Glastonbury in 2009. Pic: PA
Young, who headlined the famous Pyramid Stage in 2009, thanked fans for supporting both him and his band the last time they were at the festival.
He added: “We will not be playing Glastonbury on this tour because it is a corporate turn-off, and not for me like it used to be.
“Hope to see you at one of the other venues on the tour.”
Young, who is married to US actress Daryl Hannah, was booked to play Glastonbury in 1997 but pulled out after cutting his left index finger while making a ham sandwich.
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Following his headline performance in 2009, viewers were left disappointed when only a portion of his set was broadcast on the BBC.
In a statement at the time, the corporation said it had “spent the last couple of months” negotiating with Young’s management over what it could show on TV, radio and online.
The broadcaster added: “Neil Young’s career has been conducted on his own terms.
“Last night Neil’s management agreed to let TV and radio broadcast five songs as they watched and listened to his performance.
“They believe in the live event and retaining its mystery and that of their artist.
“They have decided to make one song available online over the weekend to give a flavour of his set. That’s Rockin’ In The Free World and that’s their decision.”
Glastonbury is one of the UK’s largest music festivals.
It is set to take place between 25 and 29 June, with Sir Rod Stewart booked for the Sunday teatime legend slot.
The BBC and Glastonbury Festival were contacted for comment.
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