Nature, 2nd prize singlesDivers observe and surround a humpback whale and her newborn calf whilst they swim around Roca Partida in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, Jan. 28, 2015.Anuar Patjane Floriuk
This year’s World Press Photo winners in the nature categories show that our planet can be both brutal and awe-inspiring: A sunbather in a bikini reads lazily on a Sydney beach as a massive cloud tsunami looms overhead; divers surround a gigantic humpback whale and her newborn calf in the Revillagigedo Islands in Mexico; an orange orangutan climbs over 30 meters up a tree in an Indonesian rainforest.
Each year, the World Press Photo selects the best photojournalism produced over the previous 12 months. This year, the Nature category singles winners were photographers Rohan Kelly, Anuar Patjane and Sergio Tapiro. The stories winners were Tim Laman, Brent Stirton and Christian Ziegler.
Selected from among 82,951 images submitted by press photographers, the nature category was one of eight themed categories, including Sports, Portraits and News. The Overall winner, photographer Warren Richardson, captured a refugee father handing his baby to another man as they crossed the barbed-wired border between Serbia and Hungary.
Nature, 1st prize storiesA Bornean orangutan climbs over 30 meters up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, Aug. 12, 2015.Tim LamanNature, 1st prize storiesThe lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centers. A Sumatran orangutan threatens another nearby male in the Batang Toru Forest, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, March 17, 2014.Tim LamanNature, 1st prize storiesA Bornean orangutan is seen through the smoke of forest fires along the Mangkutup River, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, Oct. 24, 2015.Tim LamanNature, 1st prize storiesA veterinarian from International Animal Rescue carries a Bornean orangutan baby from a house where it was kept illegally as a pet in the village of Sungai Besar, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, July 27, 2015.Tim LamanNature, 2nd prize storiesSeries portraying the armed groups that profit most from the illegal ivory trade and the people at the frontline of the war against them, as well as others affected. In the case of the specific armed groups, the sale of ivory benefits the Lord’s Resistance Army, The Seleka Rebels of Central African Republic, the Janjaweed of Sudan and the F.D.L.R rebels who base themselves inside Virunga National Park in the DRC.
In this photograph, rangers exhibit their riding skills as they return to Zakouma National Park after weeks on elephant patrol. Zakouma, Chad, Jan. 7, 2015.Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National GeographicNature, 2nd prize storiesA Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighter holds two ivory tusks. Ivory is a means of financing the LRA and is used for both food and weapon supplies. Near, Sudan, Nov. 17, 2014.Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National GeographicNature, 2nd prize storiesUgandan soldiers cross a river while on patrol against the Lord’s Resistance Army close to the border of the DRC. Mbeki, Central African Republic, Nov. 26, 2014.Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National GeographicNature, 2nd prize storiesA container filled with tons of illegal ivory. Togo is seen as a new opportunity by ivory smugglers with its new deep water port. Yet, customs officers with new container scanning technology have made the efforts of these smugglers more difficult. Lome, Togo, Jan. 29, 2014.Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National GeographicNature, 3rd prize storiesMadagascar holds more than half of the world's chameleon species; however, as a result of deforestation causing habitat loss, 50 percent of the chameleon species is endangered. Two male Panther chameleons, Furcifer pardalis, fighting; Madagascar Exotique, Madagascar, Nov. 11, 2015.Christian Ziegler for National GeographicNature, 3rd prize storiesBrookesia decaryi male and female sit in perfect camouflage in the leaf litter of a dry forest in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar, Nov. 26, 2015.Christian Ziegler for National GeographicNature, 3rd prize storiesA Furcifer ambrensis female foraging for insects with extendable tongue; Montain d’Ambre, Madagascar, Nov. 29, 2014.Christian Ziegler for National GeographicNature, 3rd prize storiesA juvenile Furcifer balteatus in a recently burned landscape. Fires are often deadly for chameleons, because they can't move fast enough to escape them. The common practice of burning the landscape at the end of every dry season has affected many species of chameleons, both directly via fatalities due to burning and indirectly due to habitat loss; Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, 16 Nov. 2015.Christian Ziegler for National GeographicNature, 1st prize singlesA massive 'cloud tsunami' looms over Sydney as a sunbather reads, oblivious to the approaching cloud on Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia on Nov. 6, 2015.Rohan Kelly for Daily TelegraphNature, 2nd prize singlesDivers observe and surround a humpback whale and her newborn calf whilst they swim around Roca Partida in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, Jan. 28, 2015.Anuar Patjane FloriukNature, 3rd prize singlesColima Volcano in Mexico shows a powerful night explosion with lightning, ballistic projectiles and incandescent rockfalls; image taken in the Comala municipality in Colima, Mexico, Dec. 13, 2015.Sergio Velasco Garcia
