The internet has voted, and the winner of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards’ Sterna People’s Choice Award is a deeply relatable photograph of a gannet on a very bad hair day. UK photographer Alison Tuck captured the winning shot on a breezy afternoon at Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire during nesting season, when a gust of wind left one seabird standing with a large mouthful of nesting grass plastered chaotically across its face, looking utterly baffled by its own situation. She titled the image “Now which direction is my nest?” and it beat out 40 other shortlisted entries in an online public vote to claim the People’s Choice title, one of the most coveted prizes in the competition because it is decided entirely by fans. Tuck said winning this particular award was something else, and that she was chuffed and grateful to everyone who voted.
The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards was co-founded by photographers Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks with a dual purpose: to make people laugh and to raise awareness of wildlife conservation, a combination that has turned it into one of the most followed photography competitions in the world. The 40 finalists this year included a bear cub in Finland that appeared to be grinning directly at the camera, a hornbill that looked to be in a very urgent hurry, and a duck perched in a tree that Popular Science described as appearing to be on a smoke break. Tuck, who first exhibited her photography at 15 and has since photographed everything from ants to orca whales, said capturing animal stories is something very special and that every creature has its own history to tell. The 2026 competition is still open for entries and is free for photographers anywhere in the world, with an overall winner prize of a week-long safari in Kenya’s Masai Mara.
Source: https://www.popsci.com/environment/comedy-wildlife-peoples-choice-awards-winner-finalists/
