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THESE IMAGES MADE A DIFFERENCE

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we get a first peek at our top photos of the year from the Amazon, Arctic, and a Bat Lab! Plus, Iceland’s volcano, startling animal hunt ... and the real story of the Pilgrims.

A dance in the Colombian Amazon, with women dancing as pink dolphins, considered mischievous spirits and guardians of the water.

PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS PESCHAK

How do you boil down the best work from 165 photographers and 2 million images submitted worldwide into a few dozen selections for Nat Geo’s 2023 Pictures of the Year? It’s not easy.

Here are a few of these images, starting with a dance (above) in the Colombian Amazon, with women dressed as pink dolphins, considered mischievous spirits and guardians of the water. This image is part of a two-year expedition, a partnership between Rolex and the National Geographic Society. Read on for more eye-catching images from our lineup.

SEE THE PICTURES
OF THE YEAR

CREATING GIANT TELESCOPES

Workers at the Chiba Kogaku glass factory use sledgehammers to remove the clay pot around a core of optical glass.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRISTOPHER PAYNE

Chiba, Japan: Workers at the Chiba Kogaku glass factory use sledgehammers to remove the clay pot around a core of optical glass. Highly resistant to air-temperature changes, the glass will be cut into slabs, shipped to the University of Arizona’s observatory, then melted and cast into mirrors for large, high-altitude telescopes.

Related: How to take great photos at night
Related: How to take perfect portrait photos

MORE SPECTACULAR IMAGES

AN ‘ALIEN FLOWER’

Marine biologist Alexander Semenov calls the lion’s mane jellyfish the queen of the Arctic seas

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEXANDER SEMENOV

White Sea, Russia: Marine biologist and Nat Geo Explorer Alexander Semenov calls the lion’s mane jellyfish the queen of the Arctic seas. He photographed this regal specimen in its final stage of life: Having reproduced, it has shrunk in size, digested or shed its hundreds of long tentacles, and become, in Semenov’s words, an “alien flower.”

Related: How to take photos underwater

MORE PICTURES OF THE YEAR

HOW BATS FLY

Testing how tiny sensory hairs on bats’ wings affect their flight responses to turbulence.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLE SOBECKI

Providence, Rhode Island: At Brown University, doctoral student Brooke Quinn (blue glove) and her adviser, Sharon Swartz, work with a Seba’s short-tailed bat inside a wind tunnel. They are testing how tiny sensory hairs on bats’ wings affect their flight responses to turbulence.

Related: How to take wildlife photos like a pro

BEST WILDLIFE PHOTOS FROM 2023

FLUTTERING AT SUNSET

Streaked with sunlight and crowded together for warmth in winter, monarch butterflies blanket fir trees in El Rosario Sanctuary.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAIME ROJO

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico: Streaked with sunlight and crowded together for warmth in winter, monarch butterflies blanket fir trees in El Rosario Sanctuary. Photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Jaime Rojo received special permits to work outside the sanctuary’s operating hours. He made this photograph shortly before sunset.

Related: See our best wildlife photos of 2023

MAJESTIC IMAGES OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

PREPARING FOR WAR

At a military facility north of the Arctic Circle, Finnish and U.S. soldiers train for winter warfare by navigating an obstacle course while on skis.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LOUIE PALU

Sodankylä, Finland: At a military facility north of the Arctic Circle, Finnish and U.S. soldiers train for winter warfare by navigating an obstacle course while on skis. The exercise took place two months before Finland—which shares an 800-mile border with Russia—joined NATO. The training was arranged in response to the war in Ukraine.

SEE ALL THE PICTURES OF THE YEAR

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

400 years later, here’s the real story of the Pilgrims, including the stuff they didn’t teach you in school

Iceland is bracing for an unprecedented volcanic eruption

Are these cities ready to become climate havens?

A startling find: Wolves hunt sea otters and seals

Why does COVID cause brain fog? Scientists finally have an answer.

Dominica establishes world’s first sperm whale reserve

Is COVID still taking sleep away from you?

Today’s soundtrack: Open Up, kwes. (feat. Sampha and Tirzah)

Thanks for reading our newsletter! It was edited and curated by Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and David Beard. We'd love to hear from you: [email protected].

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