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New images: December 2025

2612430 © Yves Noto Campanella / Biosphoto
163 images

A visual journey through the world's ecosystems, revealing wildlife and landscapes in all their richness.

This new set of images highlights the diversity of ecosystems documented this month, from Arctic and Antarctic environments to temperate and tropical zones. Wildlife observations take center stage: European deer, seabirds, polar mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arachnids are presented in their respective ecological contexts, with a focus on characteristic behaviors such as rutting, hunting, reproduction, and migration. Several contributions by Ervin Horesnyík and Emile Barbelette illustrate the precision sought in the representation of European wildlife.

The interactions between species and environments are particularly well highlighted. Raphaël Sané's numerous reports this month, for example, document the close relationships between penguins, seals, polar bears, and the dynamics of the ice floes. The macro images by Bruno Guénard, Michel Rauch, and Bernard Dubreuil offer a detailed overview of the anatomical structures of insects, fungi, and arachnids, allowing for precise identification and rigorous scientific use.

The associated landscapes also contribute to the ecological understanding of the scenes: high Arctic tundra, Canadian boreal forests, European alpine environments, African savannahs, and tropical coral reefs. Photographs by Martin Zwick, Georges Lopez, and Philippe Henry contextualize the species in specific geological and climatic environments, reinforcing the documentary dimension of the series. Finally, naturalist contributions from different regions of the world (from the Scottish Hebrides to the mountains of New Zealand and the reefs of the Red Sea) enrich the collection with a broad biogeographical spectrum in line with the agency's scientific requirements.

Biosphoto | 2611469 | Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) mother and cub resting on an iceberg drifting in front of a blue glacier, Brepollen, Hornsund, Spitsbergen | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) mother and cub resting on an iceberg drifting in front of a blue [...]
Biosphoto | 2611468 | Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) mother and cub resting on an iceberg drifting in front of a blue glacier, Brepollen, Hornsund, Spitsbergen | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) mother and cub resting on an iceberg drifting in front of a blue [...]
Biosphoto | 2611673 | Sailboat (old-grement) sailing among the icebergs at sunset, Makkoroplaap Nuua, Gyrfalcon mountain (Kissaviarsuup Qaqqaa), northeast Greenland | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Sailboat (old-grement) sailing among the icebergs at sunset, Makkoroplaap Nuua, Gyrfalcon mountain [...]
Biosphoto | 2611574 | Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) fitted with a transmitter collar resting at the edge of the fixed pack ice, Lompfjorden, Spitsbergen | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) fitted with a transmitter collar resting at the edge of the fixed pack [...]
Biosphoto | 2611384 | Group of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) drifting on a tabular iceberg with blue cavities in Antarctica. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Group of chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) drifting on a tabular iceberg with blue [...]
Biosphoto | 2611540 | Ourson polaire Ours polaire (Ursus maritimus) devant les restes d'un Bélouga (Delphinapterus leucas), Conhingam bay, Canada arctique | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Ourson polaire Ours polaire (Ursus maritimus) devant les restes d'un Bélouga (Delphinapterus [...]
Biosphoto | 2611774 | Close-up view of King Penguins (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach, Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Close-up view of King Penguins (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach, Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island.
Biosphoto | 2611772 | Close-up view of a King Penguin (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Close-up view of a King Penguin (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island.
Biosphoto | 2611773 | Close-up view of King Penguins (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Close-up view of King Penguins (Aptenodyptes patagonica) on a beach at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Island.
Biosphoto | 2611764 | Trois Manchots empereurs (Aptenodytes forsteri) debout sur une banquise fixée en mer de Ross, McMurdo Sound, Antarctique | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Trois Manchots empereurs (Aptenodytes forsteri) debout sur une banquise fixée en mer de Ross, [...]
Biosphoto | 2611755 | Spyhoping Orca (Orcinus orca) in front of the Ross Ice Shelf, Cape Adare, Victoria Land, Antarctica | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Spyhoping Orca (Orcinus orca) in front of the Ross Ice Shelf, Cape Adare, Victoria Land, Antarctica
Biosphoto | 2611409 | Adulte de Manchot royal (Aptenodyptes patagonica) couvant son unique jeune sur ses pattes dans une colonie de reproduction de Volunteer Point, Malouines | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Adulte de Manchot royal (Aptenodyptes patagonica) couvant son unique jeune sur ses pattes dans une [...]
Biosphoto | 2611405 | Gentoo Penguin parent (Pygoscelis papua) brooding a young chick on a nest, Neko harbour, Andvorden Bay, Antarctica | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Gentoo Penguin parent (Pygoscelis papua) brooding a young chick on a nest, Neko harbour, Andvorden [...]
Biosphoto | 2611569 | Prise de bec entre deux Guillemots de Brunnich (Uria lomvia) sur l'eau, Alkefjellet, Spitzberg | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Prise de bec entre deux Guillemots de Brunnich (Uria lomvia) sur l'eau, Alkefjellet, Spitzberg
Biosphoto | 2611376 | Adultes de Manchot à jugulaire (Pygoscelis antarctica), Manchot d'Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) et Manchot papou (Pygoscelis papua) l'un à côié de l'autre sur la neige à Robert Point en Antarctique | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Adultes de Manchot à jugulaire (Pygoscelis antarctica), Manchot d'Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) et [...]
Biosphoto | 2611511 | Papuan penguins (Pygoscelis papua) have begun to moult in front of the rusty, tag-covered remains of a former whaling station structure, Hektor station, Baie des Baleiniers, Deception Island, Antarctica. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Papuan penguins (Pygoscelis papua) have begun to moult in front of the rusty, tag-covered remains [...]
Biosphoto | 2611759 | Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) resting on a beach, Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) resting on a beach, Cape Evans, Ross Island, Antarctica
Biosphoto | 2611672 | Drifting striated iceberg, Bear Islands, northeast Greenland | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Drifting striated iceberg, Bear Islands, northeast Greenland
Biosphoto | 2611474 | Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) walking on a rocky coast against the light, Philpots island, Arctic Canada | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) walking on a rocky coast against the light, Philpots island, Arctic [...]
Biosphoto | 2611473 | Iceberg with a blue freeze layer contrasting with the surrounding white ice, Savissivik, northwest Greenland. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Iceberg with a blue freeze layer contrasting with the surrounding white ice, Savissivik, northwest [...]
Biosphoto | 2611572 | Landscape of dislocated pack ice with geometrically shaped drift plates, Alicehamna, Raudfjord, Spitsbergen | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Landscape of dislocated pack ice with geometrically shaped drift plates, Alicehamna, Raudfjord, [...]
Biosphoto | 2612105 | Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) during arctic winter. Traditional Reindeer husbandry near Pyhae in Finland north of the polar circle. Europe, Northern Europe, Finland, Lapland | © Martin Zwick / Biosphoto
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Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) during arctic winter. Traditional Reindeer husbandry near Pyhae in [...]
Biosphoto | 2611465 | Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyle) catching a fish between broken ice floes off the coast of Spitsbergen. | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyle) catching a fish between broken ice floes off the coast of [...]
Biosphoto | 2612124 | Geothermal power plant Krafla. The highlands in the north of Iceland with the first snow during autumn. Europe, northern europe, Iceland | © Martin Zwick / Biosphoto
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Geothermal power plant Krafla. The highlands in the north of Iceland with the first snow during [...]
Biosphoto | 2612125 | Geothermal power plant Krafla. The highlands in the north of Iceland with the first snow during autumn. Europe, northern europe, Iceland | © Martin Zwick / Biosphoto
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Geothermal power plant Krafla. The highlands in the north of Iceland with the first snow during [...]
Biosphoto | 2611028 | Canopée arriving at the Pariacabo port in Kourou. Canopée is a hybrid vessel designed to transport Ariane 6 rocket components by sea. | © Nicolas Defaux / Biosphoto
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Canopée arriving at the Pariacabo port in Kourou. Canopée is a hybrid vessel designed to transport [...]
Biosphoto | 2611024 | Ariane 6 lifts off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launcher carries the Sentinel-1D satellite, a radar-based Earth observation satellite. | © Nicolas Defaux / Biosphoto
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Ariane 6 lifts off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The launcher carries the [...]
Biosphoto | 2611895 | Salt water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) swimming in the turquoise waters of the Lacépèdes Islands off the Kimberley coast, Western Australia | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Salt water crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) swimming in the turquoise waters of the Lacépèdes Islands [...]
Biosphoto | 2612514 | La vallée de la Clarée en automne, dans les Hautes Alpes. Le massif de Tête Noire surplombe le vallon du Chardonnet, en Haute Clarée, Alpes, France | © Jean-Philippe Delobelle / Biosphoto
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La vallée de la Clarée en automne, dans les Hautes Alpes. Le massif de Tête Noire surplombe le [...]
Biosphoto | 2612502 | Aiguille de Cargneule, fairy chimney in the Vallon des Thures, Val Clarée, Hautes Alpes, France | © Jean-Philippe Delobelle / Biosphoto
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Aiguille de Cargneule, fairy chimney in the Vallon des Thures, Val Clarée, Hautes Alpes, France
Biosphoto | 2612496 | The Mont Thabor massif seen from the Col des Thures. Mont Thabor and Grand Seru dominate the heights of the Vallée Etroite, near Val Clarée in the Hautes Alpes, France. | © Jean-Philippe Delobelle / Biosphoto
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The Mont Thabor massif seen from the Col des Thures. Mont Thabor and Grand Seru dominate the [...]
Biosphoto | 2612488 | Cortinarius mushrooms in late autumn in a deciduous forest in Haute-Savoie, France. | © Jean-Philippe Delobelle / Biosphoto
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Cortinarius mushrooms in late autumn in a deciduous forest in Haute-Savoie, France.
Biosphoto | 2612440 | Great Egret (Ardea alba) fishing against the light, in a marsh at sunset, at the Tour Carbonnière in winter, Saint-Laurent-d'Aigouze, Camargue Gardoise, Gard, Occitanie, France | © Yves Noto Campanella / Biosphoto
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Great Egret (Ardea alba) fishing against the light, in a marsh at sunset, at the Tour Carbonnière [...]
Biosphoto | 2611513 | Small group of Crabeater Seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) resting on an iceberg, the submerged part of which is visible in transparency Recess Cove, Charlotte Bay, Antarctic Peninsula | © Raphaël Sané / Biosphoto
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Small group of Crabeater Seals (Lobodon carcinophaga) resting on an iceberg, the submerged part of [...]
Biosphoto | 2612051 | Craighouse, Isle of Jura, Inner Hebrides, Scotland | © Alain Roux / Biosphoto
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Craighouse, Isle of Jura, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Biosphoto | 2612430 | Mute swan (Cygnus olor) against the light at dusk in a marsh at the Tour Carbonnière in winter, Saint-Laurent-d'Aigouze, Camargue Gardoise, Gard, Occitanie, France | © Yves Noto Campanella / Biosphoto
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Mute swan (Cygnus olor) against the light at dusk in a marsh at the Tour Carbonnière in winter, [...]
Biosphoto | 2612268 | Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) on a fruiting shrub | © Emile Barbelette / Biosphoto
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Blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) on a fruiting shrub
Biosphoto | 2612247 | Earthworm on clay soil, Gers, France | © Marie Aymerez / Biosphoto
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Earthworm on clay soil, Gers, France
Biosphoto | 2612162 | Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) bellowing in the grass. Alps, Austria. | © Ervin Horesnyík / Biosphoto
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Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) bellowing in the grass. Alps, Austria.
Biosphoto | 2612161 | Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) walking in the grass. Alps, Austria. | © Ervin Horesnyík / Biosphoto
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Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) walking in the grass. Alps, Austria.
Biosphoto | 2612160 | Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) hind walking in the water. Alps, Austria. | © Ervin Horesnyík / Biosphoto
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Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) hind walking in the water. Alps, Austria.
Biosphoto | 2612159 | Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) hind standing in the water. Alps, Austria. | © Ervin Horesnyík / Biosphoto
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Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) hind standing in the water. Alps, Austria.
Biosphoto | 2612085 | Red deer (Cervus elaphus) stag amongst bracken, England | © Frédéric Desmette / Biosphoto
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Red deer (Cervus elaphus) stag amongst bracken, England
Biosphoto | 2612071 | Crabe bleu américain (Callinectes sapidus), espèce envahissante originaire des côtes atlantiques américaines. Etang de Diana (Corse), France | © Mathieu Foulquié / Biosphoto
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Crabe bleu américain (Callinectes sapidus), espèce envahissante originaire des côtes atlantiques [...]
Biosphoto | 2612068 | A male common ostriches (Struthio camelus), incubating eggs on a nest set against an ocean backdrop at Cape Point in Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa. | © Roger de La Harpe / Biosphoto
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A male common ostriches (Struthio camelus), incubating eggs on a nest set against an ocean backdrop [...]
Biosphoto | 2612062 | Cape sugarbird (Promerops cafer) feeding on a common pincushion (Leucospermum cordifolium) cultivar. Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Note pollen on head. Cape Town. Western Cape. South Africa. | © Roger de La Harpe / Biosphoto
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Cape sugarbird (Promerops cafer) feeding on a common pincushion (Leucospermum cordifolium) [...]
Biosphoto | 2612061 | Vibrant King protea (Protea cynaroides) blooms in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, framed by the iconic peaks of Table Mountain. South Africa's floral heritage in Cape Town, Western Cape. | © Roger de La Harpe / Biosphoto
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Vibrant King protea (Protea cynaroides) blooms in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, framed by [...]
Biosphoto | 2612048 | Scottish red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) on the moor, Jura Island, Inner Hebrides, Scotland | © Alain Roux / Biosphoto
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Scottish red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) on the moor, Jura Island, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
Biosphoto | 2612047 | Portrait of Scottish Red Deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) on the moor, Jura Island, Inner Hebrides, Scotland | © Alain Roux / Biosphoto
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Portrait of Scottish Red Deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) on the moor, Jura Island, Inner Hebrides, [...]
Biosphoto | 2611979 | Adult African Jacana (Actophilornis africana) and its chick walking on the back of hippo in a river covered of duckweeds. Kruger NP. SA | © Brigitte Marcon / Biosphoto
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Adult African Jacana (Actophilornis africana) and its chick walking on the back of hippo in a river [...]