Get up close to incredible animals and natural spectacles with these 12 shortlisted photos from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017, from seahorses to Arctic foxes
Bear hug. Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14 years (Ashleigh Scully)
Arctic Treasure. Finalist 2017 Animal Portrait (Sergey Gorshkov)
Resplendent Delivery. Finalist 2017, Behaviour: Birds (Tyohar Kastiel)
Swim Gym. Finalist 2017 Behaviour: Mammals (Laurent Ballesta)
The Insiders. Finalist 2017 Under Water (Qing Lin)
Sewage Surfer. Finalist 2017, The Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Single Image (Justin Hofman)
Saved but caged. Finalist 2017, The Wildlife Photojournalist Award: Single Image (Steve Winter)
Romance among the angels. Finalist 2017, Behaviour: Invertebrates (Andrey Narchuk)
Bold Eagle. Finalist 2017, Animal Portraits (Klaus Nigge)
Glimpse of a lynx. Finalist 2017, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14 Years (Laura Albiac Vilas)
Saguaro twist. Finalist 2017, Plants and Fungi (Jack Dykinga)
Winter Pause. Finalist 2017 Black and White (Mats Andersson)
The Natural History's Museum's annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year showcases the world's best nature photography and photojournalism , igniting curiosity about the natural world, whilst shining the spotlight on wildlife photography as an art form. This year's competition attracted almost 50,000 entries from professionals and amateurs across 92 countries.
The overall winners will be announced on October 17 at an awards ceremony in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall. The images show the astonishing diversity of life on our planet and the crucial need to shape a more sustainable future.
The exhibition at the Natural History Museum opens on Friday October 20 and is on show until spring 2018.
Tickets are available here: www.nhm.ac.uk
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