107 photographers, 119 stories, and more than two million photographs.

That’s what National Geographic considered before releasing their ‘Best photos of 2018’ list, picking 100 of the finest efforts from the past (almost) 12 months.

Sarah Leen, in particular, has been made to work hard, as it’s her job as Director of Photography to make the final call.

We won’t be showing you all 100, because that would take far too much effort on our side, but we’ll pick out some goodies for your perusal.

By the way, that image above shows a puma catching a guanaco in Patagonia.

Off we go:

LAURENT BALLESTA

At night gray reef sharks hunt as a pack in the south channel of Fakarava Atoll, in the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. Photographer Laurent Ballesta’s team, diving without cages or weapons, counted 700 sharks.

DAVID LIITTSCHWAGER

Moon jellies, found all over the world, are named for their otherworldly, translucent bells. The fringe of hairlike cilia sweeps food—mostly plankton—toward their mouths. The jellies change color depending on what they eat.

LYNSEY ADDARIO

Airaj Jilani, a retired oil-and-gas project manager from suburban Houston, performs as Elvis Presley. He has been a fan since he was a boy growing up in Pakistan. “I was the Elvis fan. My brother was the Beatles fan,” he says. In 1978 he visited Presley’s Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee; the following year he moved to Texas.

CHARLIE HAMILTON JAMES

At Posto Awá, an indigenous outpost in the Brazilian Amazon, villagers enjoy a morning bath. The red- and yellow-footed tortoises they’re holding will probably eventually be eaten.

AARON HUEY

One treasure still inside Utah’s Bears Ears monument is Procession Panel, a nearly 23-foot-long rock carving, or petroglyph, on Comb Ridge. At least 1,000 years old, it depicts a ceremonial gathering of some 190 humanlike forms converging from four directions. A succession of prehistoric cultures occupied the mesas and canyons of southern Utah for more than 12,000 years.

 INGO ARNDT

During an all-day courtship, Charqueado (at left), a four-year-old puma, pursues a female, gnashing his teeth and grunting. He mated with her five times over an hour and in a relatively exposed spot, according to photographer Ingo Arndt. Then, rather than retreating to safety, the pair strolled onto this promontory on private ranchland near Torres del Paine National Park.

CHARLIE HAMILTON JAMES

Ellie, a northern goshawk owned by Lloyd and Rose Buck in England, tucks in her wings and streaks through narrow openings at high speed. Aeronautics scientists say the fierce predators assess the density of the trees and intuit how fast they can fly—ensuring that they’ll find openings and not crash.

LYNN JOHNSON

Sixteen hours into a transplant operation at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, surgeons finish the intricate task of removing the face from an organ donor. Awed by the sight and by the gravity of their work, the team falls suddenly silent as staff members document the face in between its two lives. The surgeons would spend 15 more hours attaching the face to Katie Stubblefield.

Sheesh, powerful place to finish.

There are 100 photos for you to scroll through, so if you’re after more then get busy here.

[source:natgeo]