NatGeo Traveler Magazine announces winners of 2015 Photo Contest

Over stunning 17,000 entries were submitted to the 2015 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest, but one picture took the top spot. Anuar Patjane Floriuk of Tehuacán, Puebla, Mexico, won the coveted prize with an underwater picture of divers swimming near a humpback whale.

"The photo wasn't planned," Floriuk told National Geographic. "I was taking photos near the head of the whale, and all of a sudden she began to swim toward the rest of the diving team. The divers gave the whale and her calf space, and I just clicked at the moment when the flow and composition seemed right."

The "Whale Whisperer" photo was shot near Roca Partida, an island off the western coast of Mexico.

Floriuk wins an eight-day National Geographic Photo Expedition to Costa Rica and the Panama Canal for two.

Second place went to Faisal Azim of Chittagong, Bangladesh for his photo "Gravel Workmen." He won a six-day National Geographic Photo Expedition: Winter Wildlife in Yellowstone for two. The third-place photo, "Camel Ardah," was shot by Ahmed Al Toqi of Muscat, Oman. Al Toqi will receive a six-day cruise for two from Schooner American Eagle and Heritage.

There were also seven merit-prize winners who will receive a $200 gift certificate to B&H Photo.

"National Geographic Travel celebrates and illuminates destinations around the globe, and it was exciting to see that same theme captured in the contest entries," said Maggie Zackowitz, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Traveler magazine. "I was blown away by the creativity of the photographers."

The 17,000 submissions were sorted into four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place and Spontaneous Moments. Each photo underwent two rounds of evaluation based on creativity and photographic quality.

The winning photos may be viewed online on the Traveler Photo Contest website.