Now in its 11th year, the California Academy of Sciences’ renowned celebrates some of the world’s best photographers and the year’s most striking images. Judged by an esteemed panel of nature and conservation photography experts, chaired by wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas, the competition’s winning images and finalists highlight Earth’s biodiversity and illustrate the many threats that our planet faces. Each photo, in its own way, inspires viewers to value and protect the remarkable diversity of life on Earth.
Below, we present the winners and some of 's personal favorites from this year’s competition. Against the moody, rain-soaked backdrop of Western Australia’s southern coast, flowers from a lone white spider orchid (likely of the species complex) emerge from the brush and unfurl their spindly arms. Photographer Georgina Steytler used a combination of visual techniques to capture the eerie essence of these plants, whose flowering bodies and scents resemble those of their would-be pollinators.
Several orchid species are what scientists call "sexually deceptive," producing so-called pseudopheromones that mimic the scent of female wasps. Paired with the orchid’s unique color and shape, these adaptations lure male wasps from afar and inspire them to try to copulate with the flower, covering the wasps with pollen in the process. Although orchids tend to exist as loners, rather than in clonal colonies, spider orchids thrive in the biodiverse forests of Weste.