How would it feel to find yourself face to face with one of the Arctic’s most formidable predators?
This stunning image captures life from a seal’s perspective. Taken by Norwegian wildlife photographer Audun Rikardsen, it was among the ‘Highly Commended’ entries in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.
While working as a guide with Arctic Wildlife Tours, Rikardsen rigged an underwater camera with a motion sensor beneath a seal’s breathing hole, and then waited. At 4am, a female polar bear approached and peered down.
Rikardsen then waited eight hours for the bear to move away before retrieving the camera and reviewing the images.
When he saw what he had captured, he said: “I was so extremely happy. I was screaming, so I probably woke up all the polar bears for miles.”
Rikardsen has previously won two Wildlife Photographer of the Year categories: Birds in 2019 and Oceans: The Bigger Picture in 2025.
The overall winners will be announced on Tuesday 13 October 2026, followed by an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London, external from Friday 16 October 2026.
Scroll down to explore other highly commended works from the competition.
