The British Wildlife Photography Awards 2024 winners have been announced. The overall winner is a refreshingly unusual photo: it shows a football covered in barnacles, having traveled thousands of miles to reach the UK shores.

Overall winners

This year’s contest saw more than 14,000 submissions, with amateur and professional photographers competing for the £5,000 grand prize. The overall winner is Ryan Stalker, and his compelling photo also won the Coast & Marine category.

“Above the water is just a football. But below the waterline is a colony of creatures,” Stalker explains. “The football was washed up in Dorset after making a huge ocean journey across the Atlantic.”

The barnacles you see on the football are invasive goose barnacles. “More rubbish in the sea could increase the risk of more creatures making it to our shores and becoming invasive species,” the photographer warns.

Max Wood received the RSPB Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2024 award for an image of a coot running across a misty lake at sunrise. The RSPB supports this award to encourage young people to get involved with nature.

Category winners

Photographers competed in ten different categories in the adult competition: Animal Behaviour, Animal Portraits, Botanical Britain, Black & White, British Seasons, Coast & Marine, Habitat, Hidden Britain, Urban Wildlife, and Wild Woods. There were 3 age groups in the young competition: 11 and Under, 12-14 years, and 15-17 years.

Bird Eye Books has published all the awarded images in a hardback coffee-table book, now available online on the competition’s official website. Moreover, you can already submit your photos for the 2025 contest.

“The British Wildlife Photography Awards brings to light the spectacular tapestry of Britain’s natural heritage,” says Will Nicholls, Director of BWPA. “This collection is more than just a gallery of images; it is a celebration, a reminder of the enduring beauty of British wildlife and a call to preserve the natural spaces that we are so fortunate to have in Britain.”

Enjoy the category winners below, and visit the contest website for more images and information.