
Galapagos Photography Competition 2024: And the winner is…
We received so many incredible entries depicting the wonders of the Galapagos Islands, making it a tough task for our judges to pick their winner...
The overall winner this year was Tim Karels from the United States, with his action-packed shot of two yellow-crowned night herons.
The impressive photo was captured on Santiago Island as Tim watched one yellow-crowned night heron approach another, which resulted in this intimidating display that sent the heron fleeing.
The competition judges were impressed by the dramatic energy captured in this difficult shot to pull off, with BBC wildlife presenter, producer and filmmaker Hannah Stitfall describing it as an “excellent shot”, while Senior Curator of Reptiles at the Natural History Museum Patrick Campbell commented that the “action shot was captured well”.

An excellent action shot between the herons! Top work!
Second place in the competition overall was awarded to Mark Goodison’s adorable shot of a Galapagos sea lion pup on Fernandina, while third place went to Johannes Ploderer for his artistic shot of a lonesome least sandpiper on Santa Cruz.

Nothing says the Galapagos better than this young sea lion pup! A really stunning photograph that everyone that looks at it will immediately love!
This year’s judges were BBC wildlife presenter, producer and filmmaker, Hannah Stitfall; Galapagos National Park ranger and photographer, Diego Bermeo; Senior Curator of Reptiles at the Natural History Museum, Patrick Campbell; and managing director of our competition sponsor Mundy Adventures, Edwina Lonsdale.
The categories this year were Animals in Action; Birds of Galapagos; New Life; Colours of Galapagos; Underwater Wonders; and Humans in the Archipelago. There were nearly 300 photographs entered this year from nearly 20 different countries, and a selection of the best images will feature in GCT’s 2025 calendar.
You can see the full collection of category winners and runners-up below. The 2025 Galapagos Photography Competition will open in autumn 2024.

Lovely composition
This year's winners and runners-up
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