See winning photo, and other finalists

The 13 photos below are all spectacular examples of the wild and fascinating nature all around us. Some are of species we all know and love, others we might see once in a lifetime – if we’re lucky. And all of them are finalists in the 2017 Graeme Loader Photo Gallery and Calendar Contest.
Last year year, we asked you to submit your best photos of wildlife. The response was overwhelming. More than 1,300 of you sent in incredible, adorable, majestic, unusual, ephemeral images of wildlife in their natural habitat.
Check them out and share them with your friends.

Grand prize winner

Humpback whale
Photographer: Natalie Gillis
Humpback whale diving, photo taken from a kayak

 

Finalists

Brown bear
Photographer: Ian Stotesbury
A brown bear catching a salmon trying to make its way up Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park

 
Star turtle
Photographer: Vicky Chauhan
Star turtle

 
Northern gannets
Photographer: Martina Schneider
A pair of Northern Gannets photographed during a courtship display

 
Polar bear
Photographer: Miro Mytny
Polar bear in den

 
Dragonfly
Photographer: Claudette Claereboudt
Delicate dragonfly on hollyhock flower

 
Great Lakes Piping Plover
Photographer: Merri-Lee Metzger
Endangered Great Lakes piping plover

 
Loon
Photographer: Martina Schneider
Loon shakes off water at sunrise

 
Atlantic puffin
Photographer: Megan Lorenz
Atlantic puffin holding a wild iris in his beak to present to his mate for nesting material

 
Pine Marten
Photographer: Megan Lorenz
Curious Pine Marten peeking at me from behind a tree in Algonquin Provincial Park

 
Frog
Photographer: Rob Humphries
A frog, doing what frogs do best

 
Two elks
Photographer: Angus Hamilton
A pair of elks

 
Fox pup
Photographer: Diane Redden
A fox pup in Brookfield, Nova Scotia