{"id":279696,"date":"2025-11-23T23:25:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/279696\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T23:25:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T23:25:17","slug":"polar-bear-riding-enormous-frozen-whale-among-national-geographics-best-photos-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/279696\/","title":{"rendered":"Polar bear riding enormous frozen whale among National Geographic&#8217;s best photos of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>National Geographic has revealed a stunning selection of wildlife images that they feel most defines the past year.<\/p>\n<p>From an incredible drone photo of the world&#8217;s largest land <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/mammals\/10-amazing-mammal-migrations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">animal migration<\/a> to a deadly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/fish\/great-white-shark-guide\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shark<\/a> captured just off the coast of mainland USA, the images are thought-provoking and powerful.<\/p>\n<p>All 25 photos feature in the December 2025 issue of the National Geographic magazine. You can also view them online at <a href=\"http:\/\/natgeo.com\/photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">natgeo.com\/photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>National Geographic&#8217;s Pictures of the Year<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"850\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EC-115049S-24_20250602_D725400.jpg\" alt=\"A Jaguar big cat turns towards the camera.\" class=\"wp-image-145306\"\/>While monitoring the burrow of a rare giant armadillo in Brazil\u2019s Atlantic Forest, photographer Fernando Faciole came face-to-lens with a different vulnerable animal: the jaguar. Severe deforestation has decimated the population here, and today, fewer than a dozen jaguars may remain in the state park where this image was taken. Photo by Fernando Faciole<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"850\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MM10353_250718_11678.jpg\" alt=\"Bee on a yellow flower.\" class=\"wp-image-145307\"\/>A sunflower chimney bee (Diadasia enavata) rests on a pillow of velvety ochers in the early evening, likely already snoozing after a long day\u2019s work pollinating plants. This species of bee often nests at the base of sunflowers, moving with commercial farmers as they rotate their crops. Photo by Karine Aigner<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NGS-117405S-25_250708_005307.jpg\" alt=\"Great White Shark with mouth open.\" class=\"wp-image-145311\"\/>Photographer Brian Skerry has been chronicling marine life for decades, but this image represents his first encounter with a great white shark in the Gulf of Maine, USA \u2013 a place he did not expect to meet one. Sightings of sharks are increasing from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia, perhaps due in part to changing climate patterns. Photo by Brian Skerry<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"870\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MM10358_20250626_19742.jpg\" alt=\"Huge numbers of antelop move across a plain.\" class=\"wp-image-145309\"\/>A long-awaited aerial wildlife survey released by South Sudan revealed something extraordinary. An estimated six million antelopes were documented traversing the eastern plains of the country, changing our understanding of how many animals move across this part of Africa. Photographer Marcus Westberg used a drone to record the phenomenon, the planet\u2019s largest land migration, calling it a &#8216;symbol of hope&#8217; for a region that has experienced years of civil unrest. Photo by Marcus Westberg<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/DJI_20250708171650_0141_D-copy.jpg\" alt=\"A polar bear sits on top of a whale trapped in ice.\" class=\"wp-image-145304\"\/>A sperm whale floats amid shards of polar pack ice, dead and decomposing, mouth hanging open. When photographer Roie Galitz captured the scene with a drone, the image was so arresting that it took a moment to notice the hungry female polar bear sat atop the whale, stretching her jaw to break through the whale&#8217;s leathery skin. Photo by Roie Galitz<\/p>\n<p>Check out more amazing wildlife images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"National Geographic has revealed a stunning selection of wildlife images that they feel most defines the past year.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-279696","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}