Can you spot the second coyote in the image above? It may look like this amber-eyed pup is peering out from beneath his own tail, but that’s actually his sister’s. The Natural History Museum in London released this illusionary photo in a sneak peek of some of the best submissions for this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
The jaw-dropping images, selected from a record-breaking 60,636 entries, feature cheetahs, jellyfish, slime molds, and so much more. But let’s not forget the humans behind the lens. Some went to great lengths to get the perfect shot. For “A Tale of Two Coyotes,” California-based photographer Parham Pourahmad tracked this pair of siblings for hours across the rocky hillside of Bernal Heights Park, San Francisco, snapping a picture at the exact moment the sister’s black-tipped tail hung low over her brother’s face.
Judges will whittle the photos down to 100 for display in the museum’s exhibition, with the Grand Title, Young Grand Title, and category winners to be announced on October 14. Here are some of the most favored images so far. Scroll through to take a walk on the wild side without leaving your seat.
“Jelly Smack Summer” by Ralph Pace
Speaking of doing anything to get the shot, Ralph Pace deserves some serious kudos for this one. The California-based underwater and environmental photographer slathered every inch of his exposed skin in petroleum jelly before swimming through this group—or “smack”—of Pacific sea nettle jellyfish in Monterey Bay.
This provided a layer of protection against the jellys’ sting. What feels like a bee sting to humans is deadly for the Pacific sea nettle jellyfish’s prey. This species hunts tiny drifting sea creatures by trailing its frilly, stinging-cell-laced tentacles, paralyzing any prey they touch.
“Inside the Pack” by Amit Eshel
To create “Inside the Pack,” wildlife photographer Amit Eshel, from Israel, endured temperatures as low as -31 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 degrees Celsius) on Ellesmere Island in Canada, The Guardian reports. Eshel laid down on the frozen tundra and allowed an Arctic wolf pack to creep close enough to smell his breath before snapping the photo.
“Through this photograph, I wanted to highlight how the behavior of these stunning animals challenges the negative reputation and “Wolf Hate” culture that often arises from misunderstanding, myths, and folklore stories passed down through generations,” Eshel wrote in an Instagram post.
“No Place Like Home” by Emmanuel Tardy
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