A half-submerged football with a cluster of mussels attached below the waterline, floating in clear greenish waters.

Some great photos in this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards. I was going to share the black and white one of the mountains, but this one, the overall winner, is incredibly powerful. It’s also just a fantastically-composed image.

An incredible image of a football covered in goose barnacles is the winner of this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards.

The picture was chosen from more than 14,000 entries by both amateur and professional photographers.

The photograph, which also won the Coast and Marine category, was taken by Ryan Stalker.

“Above the water is just a football. But below the waterline is a colony of creatures. The football was washed up in Dorset after making a huge ocean journey across the Atlantic,” says Stalker.

“More rubbish in the sea could increase the risk of more creatures making it to our shores and becoming invasive species.”

Source: BBC News