BBC Wildlife holds an annual wildlife photography competition to find the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year as well as other award-worthy photography (other competition categories can be viewed here).

The photographer of the year for 2006 is Goran Ehlme who won with a shot of a walrus feeding on clams.  Goran almost deleted the award-winning shot from his camera until he noticed a walrus's head poking through a cloud of sediment.  Link.

The Swede has spent almost a decade getting to know the behaviour of the walrus and how to get close to the mammal without being attacked.

Weighing 1.5 tonnes, these beasts can be extremely dangerous if they feel threatened, and their big tusks have been known to kill even the great Arctic predator, the polar bear.

"It was while the walrus had gone to the surface for air. Underwater, with a mask on, with a housing around the camera, it was really hard to see the little screen; but I suddenly thought 'wow!, there's his head in the cloud'.

"It looked really great."

The judges certainly thought the image was very powerful.

"It's got everything, the feel of the picture is interesting, your attention goes straight to the eye. A very simple graphic image showing interesting behaviour," said chairman of the judges, Mark Carwardine.

Judge Andy Mclane added: "You get a real sense that you're seeing something you've never seen before. Epic. You could spend years trying to get this shot."

The best images from the competition will be on display in the Natural History Museum in London from Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006 to April 29, 2007.  The images will then go on tour across the UK and five other continents.