A polar bear peering through a seal’s breathing hole in the Arctic ice has just taken the top prize at the California Academy of Sciences’ 13th annual BigPicture: Natural World Photography Competition, announced September 8 in San Francisco.
The Grand Prize-winning shot, “A Seal’s Last Sight” by photographer Audun Rikardsen, was captured from the seal’s own point of view on the drift ice north of Svalbard, Norway. After more than three years of planning and repeated attempts, Rikardsen located a seal’s breathing hole marked by fresh polar bear tracks, drilled through the ice, and rigged an underwater camera with a motion sensor directly beneath it. Eight hours later, a polar bear pushed its head through the thin layer of ice covering the hole and gazed straight into the lens — before curling up to sleep just above the camera. Rikardsen waited nine more hours for the bear to wander off before recovering his equipment and his dream photograph.
“This is the most incredible perspective of a polar bear that I’ve ever seen,” said jury chair Suzi Eszterhas, praising the skill and determination it took to capture the shot in extreme conditions.
This year’s competition drew more than 7,400 entries from photographers in 64 countries. Forty-two winning images and finalists, plus five videos, across seven categories were announced, including “The Leap” by Marco Gaiotti in Terrestrial Wildlife and Ami Vitale’s “Pandas Gone Wild” in Photo Story. All the winning images are on view through an interactive kiosk at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.
Photo: Audun Rikardsen
