Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Alexei Calambokidis (United States of America)

Humpback backflip

Images of breaching humpbacks are not uncommon, but this individual is performing an impressive blackflip - surprisingly gymnastic for an animal that can weigh up to 30 tonnes. Alexei was on his first week-long journey at sea on board an old North Sea trawler off the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, helping his marine-biologist father. After three days of being seasick, he ventured out in an inflatable boat early one morning when the sea was calm. 'Whales were doing amazing things everywhere I looked,' he said, 'and this humpback breached time after time.' Breaching may be a form of signalling to other humpbacks, a way to dislodge parasites or simply a whale's way of having fun.

Nikon D100 with Nikkor 200mm f2.8 lens; 1/1600 sec at f10.