Winners of the BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition – The Atlantic

Entrants in the fourth annual BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition, put on by the California Academy of Sciences, were invited to “celebrate and illustrate the rich diversity of life on Earth, and inspire action to protect and conserve it through the power of imagery.” These images originally appeared in the online magazine bioGraphic,  and they were kind enough to share some of the winners and finalists selected from nearly 6,000 entries.  bioGraphic is the official media sponsor for the competition. The captions were written by the bioGraphic editorial staff, and lightly edited for style.