Winners of the 2015 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest were selected from a pool of 18,000 submissions from all over the world. The Grand Prize other than bragging rights? A week-long National Geographic Photo Expedition to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal. Here, the Grand Prize winner, titled "Whale Whisperers," shows a humpack whale and her newborn calf cruising around Roca Partida Island, in Revillagigedo, Mexico.
Photo and caption by Anuar Patjane Floriuk / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
A photo of gravel workmen in Chittagong, Bangladesh, took second place in this year's National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
Ardah, or traditional camel-racing, is considered a highly risky sport in Oman; the unpredictable beasts have been known to leap towards the audience. This picture took third place in this year's National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.
Photo and caption by Ahmed Al Toqi / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
The photographer of this stunning picture explains: "The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the Milky Way and Magellanic Clouds ...The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry." (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Beth McCarley / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
This picture, taken in Thailand's Nong Khai province, shows two boys attempting to catch a wild duck. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Sarah Wouters / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
Two wrestlers in India enjoy a clay-pit relaxation ceremony after a match. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Alain Schroeder / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
This photographer stalked a group of white rhinos for a whole day through Uganda's Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary but failed to get a good shot. The next morning, three animals happened to start grazing right in front of the camera. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Stefane Berube / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
A sauna, two miles high in the Italian Dolomites, provides a slice of wintery paradise. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Stefano Zardini / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
Farmers in Poland still use a traditional scythe and pitchfork to gather the hay. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Bartà Âomiej Jurecki / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
White frost covers the village of Pestera, Romania, in an ethereal glimmer. (Courtesy National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)
Photo and caption by Eduard Gutescu / National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest
