Wildlife Photographer of the Year awarded to woman who captured frantic cactus bee ball
By: Camille Fine USA TODAY
BUZZ NOTE: I had considerable difficulty in trying to use the fetch tools and the photo captions could not be copied, and there are SO MANY ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC PHOTOS IN THIS ARTICLE, that it would be a travesty if you did not click on the SEEDED CONTENT link to take you to the original source article and enjoy what is depicted there.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Wildlife Photographer of the Year awarded to woman who captured frantic cactus bee ball
The Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition revealed striking images that detail the profound environments and behaviors of creatures around the world.
Ndakasi's Passing by Brent Stirton fo South Africa, won the Photojournalism category for an iconic image of the orphan mountain gorilla in her final moments in the arms of her Congolese caregiver of 13 years, Andre Bauma, in the Virunga Democratic Republic of Congo. Bret Stirton / Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
The Big Buzz, by Karine Aigner, has won the grand title in London Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. Karine Aigner / Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
On Tuesday, American Photographer Karine Aigner was announced as this year's winner of the grand title award for her image, called "The big buzz," which captures a ball of mating male cactus bees frantically surrounding the sole female bee on a Texas ranch.
"The sense of movement and intensity is shown at bee-level magnification and transforms what are little cactus bees into big competitors for a single female,' Rosamund 'Roz' Kidman Cox, Chair of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Jury, said.
Aigner, a former National Geographic photo editor, captured a behavior that's rarely seen in photos. Cactus bees normally live lives of solitude but then amass in huge numbers in mating events. Her image could help scientists better protect the vital insects, officials said.
"The typical image of bees is usually that of a large colony buzzing around a honeycomb, yet the vast majority of the 16,000 known bee species are actually solitary," competition officials said. "These solitary bees play a vital role in the pollination of plants, including many of those we eat."
Of the grand title winners in the competition's 58-year history, Aigner is the fifth woman to receive the award.
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I thought I was The Big Buzz, but then no photo of me is going to win a Wildlife Photography contest.
If the photo of the dying gorilla doesn't break your heart you're not a REAL animal lover.
The dying gorilla can make you sad, but you're bound to smile when you get to the polar bears in the house.
Don't pass up going through the 25 photo gallery at the end .
All of the photos are incredible but the first one reminds us that creatures large and small have feelings. That photo stirs so many feelings that it is difficult to describe.
Yes, that first photo stirs the emotions.
Heartbreaking. The caregiver looks distraught.
For him it had to be like losing his child.
Will post a link to. this shortly.
Thank you.
Sensational, every one.
I thought so too, especially the first two.