The winning photo for the People's Choice Award for Nature Photographer of the Year is announced. Find out if YOUR favorite claimed the crown…

A dreamy image of a polar bear falling asleep on a 'bed' carved into an iceberg has been declared the winner of the Nature Photographer of the Year People's Choice Award (WPY).

The photo was taken by a British amateur photographer Nima Sarihani as you explore Norway's Spitsbergen archipelago on an expedition ship. She defeated four critically acclaimed finalists to claim the crown.

The 25 photos competing for this year's People's Choice Award received a record number of votes, with more than 75,000 wildlife photography and wildlife enthusiasts from around the world voting to name Nima this year's winner.

Nima took her remarkable photo, called 'Ice Bed', after three days of searching for polar bears in dense fog. The expedition ship she was on decided to change course and headed towards an area of ​​sea ice. Here they encountered two polar bears.

Just before midnight, the young male climbed onto a small iceberg and clawed at it with his strong paws to carve out a bed for himself. Nima captured the dreamy moment the young bear fell asleep.

Mark Boyd's acclaimed 'Shared Parenting' photo shows a pair of lionesses devotedly caring for a cub in Kenya's Maasai Mara

For 'Aurora Jellies', acclaimed finalist Audun Rikardsen photographed two moon jellyfish in the cool autumn waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in Northern Norway, illuminated by the aurora borealis

Director of the Natural History Museum, Dr Douglas Gurr, said: 'Nima's breathtaking and moving image allows us to see the beauty and fragility of our planet. His thought-provoking image is a stark reminder of the integral bond between an animal and its habitat and serves as a visual representation of the damaging effects of climate warming and habitat loss.”

Nima says, “I am so honored to have won this year's People's Choice Award for WPY, the most prestigious wildlife photography competition. This photo has evoked strong emotions in many of those who saw it.

“While climate change is the greatest challenge we face, I hope this photo also provides hope: there is still time to fix the mess we have created.”

The work of the four other finalists spanned the globe to depict nature at its most wondrous.

Mark Boyd, from Kenya, submitted 'Shared Parenting'. It shows a pair of lionesses devotedly caring for one of the pride's five cubs in Kenya's Maasai Mara.

'The Happy Turtle', by finalist Tzahi Finkelstein of Israel, features a Balkan pond turtle sharing a moment of fascinating peaceful coexistence with a northern banded ground dragonfly in Israel's Jezreel Valley

Daniel Dencescu's critically acclaimed 'Starling Murmuration' depicts a mesmerizing mass of starlings swirling in the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts over Rome, Italy

For 'Aurora Jellies', finalist Audun Rikardsen from Norway photographed two moon jellyfish in the cool autumn waters of a fjord outside Tromsø in Northern Norway, illuminated by the aurora borealis. It is common for this species to gather in the hundreds under the Northern Lights.

“The Happy Turtle,” by finalist Tzahi Finkelstein of Israel, features a Balkan pond turtle sharing a moment of fascinating peaceful coexistence with a northern banded ground dragonfly in Israel's Jezreel Valley.

Daniel Dencescu's 'Starling Murmuration', meanwhile, depicts a mesmerizing mass of starlings swirling in the shape of a giant bird on their way to communal roosts above Rome, Italy.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year was developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London. The images participating in the 60th competition are currently being judged by an international panel of experts.

The winners will be announced at the next annual awards ceremony, which will take place in South Kensington in October 2024.

Visitors can view the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural history museum.