A striking image of a soccer ball clad in a mass of barnacles is the overall winner of the 2024 British Wildlife Photography Awards (BWPA). Judges selected the image out of more than 14,000 submissions sent in by photographers from across the country.
The BWPAs are an annual photo competition out of the U.K. that aims to highlight British biodiversity and nature, while also encouraging exploration, discovery, and conservation of the country’s natural heritage. The competition also raises awareness for biodiversity, species, and habitats.
The man behind the powerful winning shot, Ryan Stalker, will be awarded €5,000, or around $7,359, for nabbing first place. Other winning images from across ten categories range from flower-like slime mould to city-dwelling foxes to stunning tree canopies.
Submitted to the Coast and Marine category, Stalker’s image, aptly titled “Ocean Drifter,” shows a soccer ball that made its way to Dorset, England, from across the Atlantic. Above the water’s surface, the ball appears normal, but below, its underside plays host to a large cluster of goose barnacles, an invasive species.
“Goose barnacles are not native to the UK but can wash up on our shores during powerful Atlantic storms,” says Stalker. “Although the ball is waste and should not be in the sea, I do wonder about the journey it’s been on.”
The photo brings awareness to the threat of human-made debris in the oceans. “This waste can bring creatures that may survive in UK waters and could become invasive species. More human waste in the sea could increase the risk of more creatures making it to our shores,” says Stalker.
Submissions for the 2025 BWPAs are already open, with photographers standing to take home a share of the €10,000, or $14,716, prize fund.
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