Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner announced as weird and wonderful world celebrated

The spider room by Gil Wizen, showing a venomous Brazilian wandering spider hiding under his bed in Canada. Credit: Gil Wizen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The weird and wonderful of the animal world have been celebrated in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.

The entries ranged from an infestation of spiders to fighting fish, an inquisitive elephant and a serene gorilla.

In the end the winner was French biologist and underwater photographer Laurent Ballesta who captured camouflage grouper fish swimming about in a cloud of eggs and sperm.

The magical moment only occurs around the full moon in July so it took his team five years of diving into a lagoon day and night to ensure they did not miss the annual spawning.

A trio of camouflage groupers exit their milky cloud of eggs and sperm, which won Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021. Credit: Laurent Ballesta/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

He took the snap in Fakarava, French Polynesia.

His photo was chosen from more than 50,000 images from 95 countries.

Chairwoman of the judging panel, Rosamund Kidman Cox, said: “The image works on so many levels. It is surprising, energetic and intriguing, and has an otherworldly beauty.

“It also captures a magical moment – a truly explosive creation of life – leaving the tail-end of the exodus of eggs hanging for a moment like a symbolic question mark.”

Here are some of the other entries:

Spinning the cradle by Gil Wizen won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Behaviour: Invertebrate Award Credit: Gil Wizen/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
Two male cichlid fish fighting over a snail shell in Lake Tanganyika, Africa. It won Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Portfolio Award. Credit: Angel Fitor/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
This image by Joao Rodrigues won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Behaviour: Amphibians and Reptiles Award Credit: Joao Rodrigues/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
Elephant in the room by Adam Oswel won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Photojournalism Award Credit: Adam Oswel/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
Reflections by Justin Gilligan, which won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Plants and Fungi Award Credit: Justin Gilligan/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
A gorilla image by Majed Ali won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Animal Portraits Award Credit: Majed Ali/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
Head to head by Stefano Unterthiner won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Behaviour: Mammals Award Credit: Stefano Unterthiner/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA
Shane Kalyn’s image of two ravens won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year: Behaviour: Birds Award Credit: Shane Kalyn/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Vidyun R Hebbar was named Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Vidyun's image, Dome home, shows a tent spider as a tuk-tuk passes.

The competition had 19 categories in total.

Dome home by Vidyun R Hebbar Credit: Vidyun R Hebbar/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/PA

There were three new categories this year, including Oceans – The Bigger Picture and Wetlands – The Bigger Picture.

A total of 100 images from the competition will displayed at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum.

The exhibition opens on October 15, and will tour across the UK and internationally.

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