National Geographic Reveals “Pictures of the Year” for 2023

National Geographic has revealed their “Pictures of the Year” for 2023, a collection of jaw-dropping images from throughout the wonders of our world. Selected from over 2 million photographs and shot by 165 photographers on assignment all over the world, the collection highlights 29 of the most captivating shots from the past year, including some incredible shots of hyena in Kenya, reanimated pig brains, and so much more.

National Geographic was kind enough to share some of the images with us, so here are a selection of them, and for more, please visit NatGeo.com.

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The Reverend Siv Limstrand of the Church of Norway is the only pastor for the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, welcoming worshippers of any nationality and religion. As the Arctic warms, Limstrand’s congregation of scientists and local people is chronicling, and coping with, climate change.

Volcanologists and mountaineers return after a weeks-long expedition to Mount Michael, a remote volcano in the South Sandwich Islands. The team made a successful first ascent and study of the peak, which holds one of Earth’s few lava lakes.

Elephants wander a tea estate that was once part of their forest habitat before being converted to crop production in the late 1800s. Today about 70,000 people live and work in the region among 120 elephants.

Ashley Okoli dances at a Lagos nightclub, which offers a rare welcoming space for people of all sexual orientations. Same-sex relationships are illegal in Nigeria, yet in the past four years LGBTQ activists have celebrated Pride month with performances and protests in some parts of the country.

A seven-foot-long zebra shark glides through an exhibit at Shedd Aquarium, one of several aquariums where endangered zebra sharks are breeding to produce eggs for shipment to Indonesia. They will be raised and released into a marine protected area in Raja Ampat to rebuild its wild population.

For more on this story, please visit NatGeo.com.