30 Of The Best Photos From 2017 National Geographic Traveler Contest's Nature Category

Reflection of the Green Gours at the Watch Out for Dinosaurs first doline in Hang Sơn Đoòng, the largest known cave passage in the world. You need to do trekking for 2 days before you arrive to this magnificent place. Hang Sơn Đoòng cave is located in Phong Nha Ke Bang National Park, Quang Binh province, Việt Nam. (Photo And Caption By Ronald Fritz / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

View of the village Å. Panorama from two shots. Lofoten, Norway. (Photo And Caption By Sergey Lukankin / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

Shooting in the forest. (Photo And Caption By Y. TAKAFUJI / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

I had been to Ecuador the paradise for hummingbirds in the month of January. Hummingbirds flap wings around at a rate of 50 time per second. They feed on nectar from the flowers. Ecuador is filled with rain forests and cloud forests, which make it very conducive for the hummingbirds to make a habitat. When we landed in Guango lodge which is in a high-altitude town called Papallacta. I was surrounded by lot of humming birds the moment I got out of the vehicle. I was awestruck when I saw so many. (Photo And Caption By Hymakar Valluri / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

On safari in Zambia, the grass was so tall that it seemed there was no chance to see anything interesting. Then this pride of lions came walking toward us, taking advantage of the road to travel on. They too, seemed they were tired of the tall grass swatting at their faces! (Photo And Caption By Torie Hilley / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

I went to Valensole hoping to get a new angle than the classic view. I knew this was harvest season so I looked for tractors and waited patiently until some started to harvest in a pattern that would create a pleasing composition from above. I just had to start the drone engine and capture the photo against really strong wind. (Photo And Caption By Jerome Courtial / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

A young hawksbill turtle ducks under its first wave just minutes after hatching. Its struggle will be long and tiresome and the odds of survival are sadly stacked against it. A slow shutter speed used with flash enabled me to capture the amazing ambient light. (Photo And Caption By Matthew Smith / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

The only sound throughout the swamp on this late spring morning were three geese honking at one another. They gathered at the head of the lake, where a fog bank rolled in just as the sun peaked over the trees to wrap the area in an ethereal glow. As I watched, the goose in the center of the trio pivoted toward the sun and, as if in greeting, arched out of the water and flapped its wings. Shot Info: Canon EOS 5DS // EF 24-105mm f/4L @ 105mm // 1/125; f/16; ISO 200 Taken: 23 April, 2017 (Photo And Caption By Scott Summers / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

I shot this picture in Sicily, with my drone. Those waves of lava are from Etna's big eruption back in 2002, this eruption was so spectacular that was recorded by Lucasfilm and integrated into the landscape of the planet Mustafar in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III (Photo And Caption By Placido Faranda / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

This is Cheia (DN1A) road that takes you to Transylvania. Yes, THAT Transylvania, the birthplace of the legendary Count Dracula (Vlad Tepes). The legend says that this shot imagines what he might have seen on his nocturnal flights! Nevertheless, it's a breathtaking view with a magnificent road. (Photo And Caption By Calin Stan / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

Powerful eruption of Colima Volcano in Mexico on december 13th, 2015. That night, the weather was dry and cold, friction of ash particles generated a big lightning of about 600 meters that connected ash and volcano, and illuminated most of the dark scene. On last part of 2015, this volcano showed a lot of eruptive activity with ash explosions that raised 2-3 km above the crater. Most of night explosions produced incandescent rockfalls and lightnings not bigger than 100 meters in average. (Photo And Caption By Sergio Tapiro Velasco / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

The marble caves of Patagoina. (Photo And Caption By Clane Gessel / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

Major Shelf Cloud Saskatchewan. (Photo And Caption By Mark Duffy / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

This photograph captures a whale behaviour called ‘spy hopping’, where whales poke their head above the water to take a look around and see what’s happening above the surface. It’s like these majestic mammals of the sea understand we are watching them and are trying to connect with us in some way. In this shot, I wanted to capture this by showing the whale between two worlds, ours above the surface and its below, at the precise moment when it is about to make that connection. (Photo And Caption By Mark Seabury / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

These 8 stags were wandering on the huge snowy field in Hokkaido Japan. When my drone was aproching them, they stopped wandering and then looked up to the unfamiliar flying object with their curiosities. I like 8 stags' arrangement, silhouettes and shadows. (Photo And Caption By Hidetoshi Kikuchi / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

I saw a polar bear mother and her newborn cubs in Wapusk National Park, Canada in March 2016. The -35F degree windy weather became even more challenging after sleet coated my camera, lens, and other gear in a solid layer of ice. Luckily, after several days of waiting, the mother cub finally emerged from her den with two three-month old cubs. I made this photo while the mother patiently waited as one cub carefully teetered towards her on icy ground covered in a layer of freshly fallen snow. (Photo And Caption By Baoting (Bob) Chen / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

It was freezing when we reached the ridge. I pulled on more layers as mountain goats descended toward us. We had been warned about these goats. A hiker had been killed on this trail 5 years previously. We started off again as quickly as we could, and they came closer, surprisingly fast, their eyes never leaving us. As I scrambled down the scree on the other side, I turned for one last look, and saw this large adult watching us from an outcrop of rock, surveying the Olympic Wilderness. (Photo And Caption By Jenny Oliver / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

Amboseli is the ultimate canvas in which to encounter Elephants in their natural environment. This Bull Elephant is charging our vehicle - coming within meters of us. Although Elephants "mock" this aggression - one can never be completely immune to the energy that they exude. It was a compelling display of a 12,000 lb giant's fury - and for me - to experience how it feels to be on the receiving end of that power was humbling. Heart racing and adrenaline high - I managed to get the shot. (Photo And Caption By Dana Kennedy / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

In Premantura Park (Croatia) a combination of white dust from the ground that settled on the trees and a sunset seen between them leads to a unique view. (Photo And Caption By Aurel Manea / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)

Aerial view of the Scenic drive and the beautiful Fall colors of New Hampshire. I used a drone to capture the fall colors that cannot be seen from the road. (Photo And Caption By Manish Mamtani / National Geographic Travel Photographer Of The Year Contest)