The results are in for this year’s National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, and the photos are truly exceptional. They were selected from more than 17,000 global entries in the categories Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place and Spontaneous Moments.

Anuar Patjane Floriuk won first prize for his underwater shot of divers swimming close to a humpback whale near Roca Partida, an island off of the western coast of Mexico. The grand prize is an eight-day National Geographic Photo Expedition to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal for two.

“The photo wasn’t planned,” said Floriuk, from Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico. “I was taking photos near the head of the whale, and all of a sudden she began to swim toward the rest of the diving team. The divers gave the whale and her calf space, and I just clicked at the moment when the flow and composition seemed right.”

The competition is in its 27th year, and both amateur and professional photographers are eligible to submit photos.

More info: nationalgeographic.com (h/t: modernmet)

First Place Winner: Whale Whisperers

Diving with a humpback whale and her newborn calf while they cruise around Roca Partida in the Revillagigedo, Mexico. (Image credits: Anuar Patjane)

Second Place Winner: Gravel Workmen

This gravel-crush working place remains full of dust and sand. Three gravel workmen are looking through the window glass at their working place. Chittagong, Bangladesh. (Image credits: Faisal Azim)

Third Place Winner: Camel Ardah

Camel Ardah, as it is called in Oman, is one of the traditional styles of camel racing between two camels controlled by expert men. The faster camel is the loser so they must be running at the same speed level in the same track. The main purpose of Ardah is to show the beauty and strength of the Arabian camels and the riders’ skills. (Image credits: Ahmed Al Toqi)

Merit Winner: A Night at Deadvlei

The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadvlei. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds. (Image credits: Beth McCarley)

Merit Winner: Catching a Duck

Two boys are trying to catch a duck at the stream of the waterfall. Nong Khai Province, Thailand. (Image credits: Sarah Wouters)

Merit Winner: Romania, Land of Fairy Tales

White frost over Pestera village. (Image credits: Eduard Gutescu)

Merit Winner: Highlanders

Traditional haymaking in Poland. Many people continue to use the scythe and pitchfork to sort the hay. (Image credits: Bartłomiej Jurecki)

Merit Winner: White Rhinos

The night before this photo, we tried all day to get a good photo of the endangered white rhino. Skulking through the grass carefully, trying to stay 30 feet away to be safe, didn’t provide me the photo I was hoping for. In the morning, however, I woke up to all three rhinos grazing in front of me. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Uganda. (Image credits: Stefane Berube)

Merit Winner: Kushti, Indian Wrestling

Kushti is the traditional form of Indian wrestling. Wearing only a well-adjusted loincloth, wrestlers enter a pit made of clay, often mixed with salt, lemon, and ghee. At the end of a workout, wrestlers rest against the walls of the arena, covering their heads and bodies with earth to soak up any perspiration and avoid catching cold. (Image credits: Alain Schroeder)

Merit Winner: Sauna in the Sky

A sauna at 2,800 meters high in the heart of Dolomites. Monte Lagazuoi, Cortina, eastern Italian Alps. (Image credits: Stefano Zardini)

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