Pictures: Best Environmental Photos of 2011 Named

Natural-World Finalist: "Hungry Pelicans"

Photograph by Bence Máté, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

Pelicans open wide in this picture by Hungarian wildlife photographer Bence Máté.

Pelicans swim in groups to fish, using their throat pouches to catch their meals. All of the more than half dozen species of pelicans have the distinctive pouch.

Published October 27, 2011

Changing-Climates Finalist: "Penguins and Fire"

Photograph by Shem Compion, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

In a picture by South African photographer Shem Compion, African penguins huddle on a rocky point in Betty's Bay, South Africa, while fires burn on the slopes of the Hottentots Holland mountains.

In 2010 the African penguin was declared endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. "African penguins have been sliding towards extinction since industrial fishing started around the Cape. The last four years have seen a population crash," the BirdLife South Africa nonprofit said in a news statement at the time. (Read more on our News Watch blog.)

Published October 27, 2011

Natural-World Finalist: "Touché"

Photograph by Csaba Tökölyi, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

A female green-crowned brilliant hummingbird strikes an effective blow to a male in this image by Hungarian photographer Csaba Tökölyi. Green-crowned brilliants are commonly found in mountainous areas in southern Central America and northwestern South America.

(See National Geographic pictures of hummingbirds.)

Published October 27, 2011

Natural-World Winner: "Lightning at Kaieteur Falls"

Photograph by James Broscombe, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

Lightning illuminates Kaieteur Falls at night in British photographer James Broscombe's winning image in the "Natural World" category. Located in Guyana's Kaieteur National Park, the natural wonder is five times the height of Niagara Falls.

(Pictures: Chile Volcano Plume Explodes With Lightning.)

Published October 27, 2011

Underwater-World Finalist: "Giant's Gullet"

Photograph by Doug Perrine, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

Fish flee the gaping maw of a Bryde's whale, which surprised U.S. photographer Doug Perrine, who was in the middle of photographing striped marlin lured by a bait ball of sardines. In an account released with the image, Perrine said he snapped the picture while also fleeing the whale.

Sleek and lean, Bryde's whales use their meshlike mouth plates, called baleen, to filter food as they power through the sea.

Published October 27, 2011

Natural-World Finalist: "Wild Dog Hunt"

Photograph by Suzie Eszterhas, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

A pack of African wild dogs attacks a warthog in this image by U.S. photographer Suzie Eszterhas, who captured the picture in northern Botswana.

Also called painted or Cape hunting dogs, the endangered canines roam open plains and sparse woodlands in sub-Saharan Africa.

Published October 27, 2011

Natural-World Finalist: "Silver and Gold"

Photograph by Bjørn Leirvik, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

The wake of a watercraft splits a calm surface in this aerial picture by photographer Bjørn Leirvik of Norway. (See more pictures of patterns in nature.)

Published October 27, 2011

Changing-Climates Finalist: "Lost Villages"

Photograph by Neil A. White, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

A seaside road succumbs to erosion on the Holderness coast in Yorkshire, England. The area suffers the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe, according to a statement by London-based photographer Neil A. White.

Several villages are under constant threat, as the coast crumbles at a rate of about six feet (two meters) a year, he says. Many villages that have been lost to the sea date back to Roman times.

(See more pictures of extreme erosion.)

Published October 27, 2011

Underwater-World Finalist: "Kingfisher"

Photograph by Joe Petersburger, EPOTY.org/Fame/Barcroft

In typical fashion, a kingfisher splashes in headfirst for a meal in this fish's-eye view from photographer Joe Petersburger of Hungary. (See National Geographic kingfisher pictures.)

Published October 27, 2011