Sneak Peek: Wildlife Photos of the Year Debut at Zoo

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Metro Detroit residents will have the first chance in the United States to see a stunning collection of photos from the world’s largest and most prestigious wildlife photography competition.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition makes its U.S. debut on Nov. 20 at the Detroit Zoo’s Ford Education Center in Royal Oak, where it runs through June 1.

The exhibition of winners from the 2015 competition features 100 images dramatically displayed as illuminated large-format color transparencies. The images were chosen from more than 42,000 entries by photographers from 96 countries.

The collection includes images of species most people never see captured in arresting, jaw-dropping natural poses — a curious blacktip shark sidles up to a paddling surfer, their underwater silhouettes creating a mirror-like image; two formidable Komodo dragons waging a hilltop battle along the majestic coast of Indonesia’s Komodo National Park; a bearded seal snoozes on the water’s surface off the Norway coastline, its whiskers dried into curls in the midnight sunshine.

“Year after year, this awe-inspiring exhibition showcases the most incredible images of wildlife from around the globe as well as the skill and perfect timing of the photographers,” Ron Kagan, executive director and CEO of the Detroit Zoological Society, said in a statement.

Now in its 51st year, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.