Award-winning nature pictures: Whale sharks, birds, coral and wasps

Some of the amazing pictures up for awards in the competition

Check out these amazing pictures that are highlighting the wonders of the natural world.

They are all part of an annual competition between scientific researchers who snap shots of nature in action as they work.

The BMC Ecology and Evolution and BMC Zoology image competition aims to celebrate the researchers who are working to understand some of the mysteries of our natural world.

The photos are judged in four categories which take into account artistic merit, as well as the story behind it.

Now, they've revealed the winners with spectacular photos from around the world taking the top spots.

Take a look to see all the winners below...

The overall winner

Feeding Frenzy

This dramatic picture was taken by a Marine Biologist who is involved in a project studying the impact of fishing on the largest animals in the sea.

The picture shows the world's largest fish, a whale shark, feeding on snipefish.

Research in action winner

A Few Drops of Medicine

Ryan Wagner, who took this picture, is a conservation biologist and won in the category for 'Research in action'.

It shows an ornithologist (a specialist on birds) feeding a Kiwikiu bird.

Kiwikiu birds live on the island of Maui in Hawaii, and are one of the most endangered birds in the world.

Now, researchers are developing plans to preserve the species.

Relationships in nature winner

Chasing the fish

Winner of the 'Relationships in nature' category is this black and white photo.

Taken by Alwin Hardenbol, a researcher from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, it shows an arctic skua bird attempting to steal a black-legged kittiwake's fish.

This is known type of behaviour from birds where one deliberately takes food from another.

Protecting our planet winner

Coral health monitoring at the Great Barrier Reef

Victor Huertas captured the winning image in the 'Protecting our planet' category.

His image shows a park ranger assessing coral health in the southern Great Barrier Reef.

Corals bleach when stressed and the Australian government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority recently reported that this summer the UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef system has experienced widespread coral bleaching.

Life close-up winner

A concerned freeloader

This photo was taken by biologist Abhijeet Bayani for the ‘Life close-up’ category.

It shows a fig wasp pollinating and depositing its eggs inside a fig plant.