Award-Winning Pics Of Australia's Weird And Wonderful Wildlife

Natural spectacles

The Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year competition is held annually by the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, and celebrates photography from the bioregion of Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea. For the most recent awards, held in August 2022, judges chose from 2,443 entries, which depicted bewitching underwater scenes, wild weather and staggering night skies. Here we showcase some of our favorite shots.

Midnight Seahorse by Matt Testoni

Blink and you'll miss this pint-sized seahorse lurking in the seagrasses off the coast of Kettering, Tasmania. Photographer Matt Testoni captured the marine creature as it hunted crustaceans in the dead of night – his shot was the runner-up in the Animals in Nature category. 

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Night Light Dining by Jannico Kelk

This fascinating photo captures what photographer Jannico Kelk described as a "stunning acrobatic aerial battle". The spectacle can be seen in Queensland's Ella Bay National Park – as night draws in, bioluminescent fireflies emerge from the woodland to the delight of the park's dusky leaf-nosed bats, who feast on them for breakfast. This photo claimed victory in the Animals in Nature category. 

Abstraction of an Icon by Cian O’Hagan

Seventeen-year-old Cian O’Hagan is the photographer behind this hypnotic shot of a kangaroo, which he snapped while exploring the rocky landscape of Friendly Beaches, Tasmania. He said: "I used a slow shutter speed to obscure the form and to capture the power, grace and speed of this national symbol." It was named runner-up in the Junior category (he also stole the winning spot with his image titled Impermanence).

Flinders Rise by William Godward

Australia's vast, inky skies are the perfect canvas for the glittering Milky Way, which appears here over Wilpena Pound, a mountainous amphitheater in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, casting a vibrant red glow across the rocks. Photographer William Godward said: "I love how the Milky Way is perfectly positioned here with the silhouette of the ridge line. I started shooting the image just before astronomical twilight and finished on the foreground just before blue hour." The shot nabbed second place in the new-for-2022 Astrophotography category.

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The Outlier by Jason Perry

There's something haunting about this image, depicting a grove of dead trees caught in a starry haze at fog-cloaked Lake Toolondo in Victoria. "When I saw this scene that night, it was as if the tree and the Milky Way were somehow connected despite the distance," explained photographer Jason Perry, who won the Astrophotography category with this shot.

Sleeping Dragon by Gary Meredith

This photo of a snoozing lizard picked up second place in the Urban Animals category. The long-nosed dragon was spotted basking on a wire mesh at a gold-mining site in the Great Sandy Desert. Photographer Gary Meredith had a hunch that the lizard was strategically sleeping beneath a light fixture, hoping for a bountiful breakfast of insects the next morning.

Gnarled Mossy Cloud Forest by Justin Gilligan

Photographer Justin Gilligan is showcasing a little-known and critically endangered landscape with this striking image. It shows the plateau of Mount Gower on Lord Howe Island, New South Wales and more specifically the Gnarled Mossy Cloud Forest, a precious ecosystem home to a store of endemic and endangered flora, that falls away sharply to the sea below. It earned second place in the Botanical category. 

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A Pink Tomb by James Dorey

Lake Crosbie is an awe-inspiring pink salt lake in a remote part of Victoria that's shown here after dark. Photographer James Dorey, winner of the Botanical category, said: "All that falls on the lake is slowly preserved as the wind-driven tide ebbs and flows, leaving a little more salt every time. Objects mark the lake’s alien texture and the lake mars them in return."

Forces of Nature by Ellie Morris

Western Australia's often-dramatic weather is on full display in this stirring shot. It was taken near Perenjori in the state's Wheatbelt and shows dark storm clouds rumbling over the landscape while the wind whips up clouds of dust. It was awarded runner-up in the Landscape category.

Breaking Dawn by Yan Zhang

Photographer Yan Zhang went on a four-day expedition to photograph New Zealand's Tasman Glacier, and his adventure included a journey to the top of the 9,298-foot (2,834m) Hochstetter Dome. This photograph, the Landscape category winner, was taken as a starry night sky began to turn orange.

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Landing On Mars by Jiayuan Liang

Jiayuan Liang was runner-up in the Our Impact category, designed to display the impact that humans have on nature. Liang was struck by the otherworldly feel of this landscape at Broken Hill mine in New South Wales. He said: "The Miners Memorial building on the top of the mine looks like a spaceship landing on Mars. It shows how landscape was changed by mining activities."

Crackle and Pop by Jarrod Koh

The black and white cast of this Monochrome category-winning weather photograph makes it all the more stark – it was taken as a storm rolled right past the photographer's house in Middleton, South Australia. He said: "I have never been so close to lightning strikes. The thunder rolled like undulating galvanized steel sheets. This is a single frame capturing the ferocity of the downpour and the energy released from the lightning strikes."

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Fish Rock Cave by Matt Krumins

Fish Rock Cave is a revered diving spot just off South West Rocks in New South Wales, and this photograph shows a swirl of critically endangered grey nurse sharks hovering at the cave's entrance, submerged 79 feet (24m) beneath the surface. Photographer Matt Krumins, who won the Monochrome category, described witnessing the spectacle as a "privilege".

Giant Cuttlefish and the Winter Garden by Alejandro Trevino

Alejandro Trevino was the winner of the Portfolio prize, which required photographers to submit six images with a shared theme. Trevino's portfolio depicted the fascinating marine life found around Sydney, including cuttlefish, Port Jackson sharks, spotted wobbegongs and the common Sydney octopus. This image shows a giant cuttlefish, described by the photographer as a "master of camouflage" since they're able to change the color, shape and texture of their bodies as needed.

Head On by Matty Smith

Equal parts terrifying and mesmerizing, this nose-first shot of a great white shark was taken in the waters off South Australia's Neptune Islands. Photographer Matty Smith used a mix of tuna oil and flakes to draw the shark towards him (he had a license), though he never actually fed the majestic creature. The ensuing photo was awarded second place in the Threatened Species category.

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Nature’s Prey by Ashlee Jansen

The judges were blown away by this photograph by Ashlee Jansen, who was crowned the competition's overall winner. A bird's-eye view of the ocean floor in Coral Bay, Western Australia, the evocative image shows the carcass of a young humpback whale that's been stripped to the bone by sharks and other marine life. The judges said: "The beauty of the image lies in its artful circular composition, seen in the curves of the whale’s skeletal ribs mirroring the patterns in the sand, keeping our eye within the frame moving between the living and the dead."