A bear curled up on a small iceberg in the Svalbard archipelago (Norway). It is the moving image that has triumphed in the 59th edition of the People's Choice for Best Wildlife Photography of the Year, the photographic competition organized by the Natural History Museum in London.
Nima Sarikhan's photograph was chosen by the majority of the 75,000 people who voted, the highest number since the contest began, the organization reports.
The image, titled Ice Bed, shows a male polar bear who has just laid down to sleep on a small iceberg. From what can be seen, the animal does not need too much space to rest peacefully. Find the position and space necessary to take a snooze.
Finding the animal was not easy, says the author, who spent three days searching for polar bears aboard an expedition ship, but was thwarted by thick fog around the Norwegian islands. When he was about to throw in the towel, his luck changed: he found two bears, a younger male and an older male.
He had to wait up to eight hours to capture the moving scene that has conquered animal and photography lovers.
The home of this bear is the islands of Svalbard, located high in the Arctic Ocean and some of the most isolated in the world. In total, there are believed to be around three thousand bears in the Barents Sea population, most of which spend their time between Svalbard and Russia's Arctic islands, the organization details.
However, no one escapes the effects of climate change. Svalbard has warmed between three and five degrees since the 1970s. In addition, the thickness and extent of sea ice has decreased dramatically, endangering the habitat of these animals.
Beyond the beauty of the image, the author hopes that it will also serve to raise awareness about the challenge we face. "I hope this photograph also inspires hope. There is still time to fix the mess we have caused," says Sarikhan.
