A camera beneath a seal’s breathing hole, a squirrel’s escape from a young leopard and a bear in a California backyard pool are among the highly commended images released ahead of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards.
A polar bear gazing down through a seal’s breathing hole is among the newly released highly commended images from the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
Norwegian photographer Audun Rikardsen captured the image, titled Icy Window, with an underwater camera fitted with a motion sensor beneath the ice. Rikardsen, who was working as an Arctic wildlife guide, waited until a female bear moved away before recovering the camera and seeing the result.
Other featured photographs capture a young leopard stranded below a squirrel that escaped higher into a tree in Botswana; an African bullfrog missing its strike at a butterfly; and a black bear cooling off in a residential swimming pool in Monrovia, California.
The selection also includes underwater scenes from the Seychelles, an exceptionally camouflaged katydid in Ecuador and a swift flying beneath a passenger aircraft. Together, the images foreground both fleeting animal behavior and wildlife living alongside people.
The overall winners are due to be announced on October 13, 2026. An exhibition is scheduled to open at London’s Natural History Museum on October 16.
