Buzzing bees, sperm-covered starfish stun Wildlife Photographer of the Year judges

You can almost hear the bees buzzing as you look at a stunning new image of a ball of plush, yellow cactus bees tumbling over each other on the hot sand of a Texas ranch.

The photo has taken first place in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, curated by London’s Natural History Museum, meaning the photographer who captured the buzzing bees, Karine Aigner, won the big title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year . Other winning images included a photo of a whale’s jaws opening wide to reveal the thick “hair” the animal uses to filter food, and a shot of a spawning starfish floating underwater, suspended in a shimmering cloud of sperm and eggs. in partial light.