The image above is titled The Swarm of Life. It depicts tadpoles swimming through a forest of lily pads in Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island. It won Shane Gross the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the winner in the category Wetlands. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is held annually by the Natural History Museum in London, and the top entries will be on exhibit at the museum from October 11 through next June. The Young Grand Title Winner is Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas of Germany for the image below of a two-millimeter springtail insect with a slime mold. It's titled Life Under Dead Wood.
There are winners named from each of the 18 different categories, too. I was particularly taken with the winner in the Portrait category.
Titled On Watch, it shows a mother lynx with her two grown offspring behind her. Photographer John E. Marriott tracked this family of Canada lynx for a week in the Yukon and captured this image from a distance. Explore the gallery for the winners in the various categories plus highly commended photos, and the top five in the People's Choice award voting. On both pages you can click on an image to bring up information about it. Read more about the competition at NPR. -via Damn Interesting