Given Canada’s incredible diversity and abundance of nature, it should come as no surprise that Canadian nature and wildlife photographers rank among the top in the world. Two of our talented photographers, including an Albertan from Canmore, have continued our reputation for excellence by garnering top prizes in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year (WPY) competition.
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Natural History Museum in the UK, has evolved into one of the world’s premier platforms for wildlife photography.
Initially launched in 1965 as a small magazine contest with just 361 entries, it has grown into a global event, drawing over 45,000 entries annually. In 1984, the Natural History Museum took over, helping transform it into a renowned exhibition that now attracts photographers from across 117 countries, with this year’s entries totalling 59,228!
The competition began in Animals magazine, which later became BBC Wildlife, and was created to nurture the emerging field of wildlife photography. Over time, it has become a prestigious event where recognition is akin to winning an Academy Award in photography.
Today, the competition not only celebrates the artistry of photography but also furthers the Museum’s mission to inspire passion for the natural world and foster environmental advocacy. Many renowned conservationists and photographers have had their careers catapulted by being named winners.
Top Prize
The Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner goes to Nanaimo, BC’s Shane Gross, who won with his artistic rendition of a swarm of western toad tadpoles swimming in the waters of Cedar Lake on Vancouver Island. The photo also won the top spot in the “Wetlands” competition category.
To maintain the clear visibility needed for the shot, Shane navigated carefully through beaver-cleared pathways in the lake, avoiding any disruption to the silt and algae that could cloud the water.
The tadpoles make the risky journey from the lake’s depths to the shallows daily, evading predators to reach their feeding grounds. Shane was interested in capturing this daily migration, highlighting an overlooked event. Between 4 and 12 weeks after hatching, the tadpoles transform into toads. Unfortunately, only about 1% will survive to adulthood, with the survivors facing ongoing dangers like roads, pesticides, herbicides, and the deadly chytrid fungus.
The resulting photo documents an incredible natural phenomenon in an artistic and graphically appealing way. It is the perfect marriage of art and science.
“The jury was captivated by the mix of light, energy and connectivity between the environment and the tadpoles,” explains Kathy Moran, Photo Editor and Chair of the Jury for Wildlife Photographer of the Year. “We were equally excited by the addition of a new species to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year archive.”
“Over the last few years, the competition has highlighted environments and species that are often overlooked yet provoke the same wonder and delight when shared as the more typically photographed wildlife and wild places.”
Shane told CBC News in an interview that it was an “absolute shock” to be chosen as the top winner. Those sitting around him at the awards ceremony said the look on his face was priceless.
Shane is no stranger to awards, having previously won two “Highly Commended” images in WPY contests and many other awards.
For a fantastic summary of the making of the photograph, be sure to watch the video below:
Top Animal Portrait
John E. Marriott of Canmore took the top spot in the Animal Portraits category of the competition with a photo, On Watch, of a mother lynx with two fully grown young peeking out from behind their mother.
John had been tracking this lynx family group for almost a week in the Yukon, wearing snowshoes and carrying light camera gear to make his way through snowy forests.
John stated in a Facebook post, “I snowshoed every day for five straight days in the area hoping to see them, and on my second last day, I cut across very fresh tracks of the family on an old road. I tracked them on snowshoes for about two kilometres in -22 C weather (it was -29 C earlier that morning) and finally found them in a patch of thick spruce hunting snowshoe hares early in the afternoon. After two successful hunts, the family eventually huddled together on the edge of a band of willows out of the wind but in the open. I approached slowly to about 40 meters, took a series of pictures for 5-10 minutes (most of the time, the family slept), then slowly backed away and waited until the family decided to move again (which was about 45 minutes later)”.
What puts John’s image over the top is what editor, writer and competition judge Roz Kidman Cox calls attention to: “It’s not one Canadian lynx, it’s two – no, three. To have got close to such an elusive, wary cat – widely trapped for its fur – is rare, but to have portrayed the whole family is extraordinary.”
John was thrilled to be announced as a category winner, writing on his Facebook page, “Wow, what can I say?! The past few days have been some of the most surreal of my life. For those of you who caught my speech live last night during the Oscars of Wildlife Photography, thank you so much for all of your kind words. It means the world to me to have so much support for my work.”
John previously had an image of a fluffed-up Raven in snow featured as “Runner Up” in the 2012 WPY competition.
John is well known in the Bow Valley for his incredible body of photography, seven books, and advocacy work with Exposed Wildlife Conservancy.
The winning photos from all categories of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition will be displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto from Dec. 21, 2024, to May 4, 2025, and at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria from Feb. 14 to April 27, 2025.
Congratulations to both Shane and John!
