Canadian Paul Nicklen’s stunning shot of emperor penguins surfacing amongst trails of bubbles has won the Wildlife Photographer of the Year international photo contest, beating out more than 48,000 other entries.

The winning photos are now on exhibit at the Royal BC Museum until April 1, 2013. The exhibit is on loan from the Museum of Natural History in London, U.K, which organizes the annual competition.

A panel of 15 judges named Nicklen’s photo the Overall Winner of the competition.

Here’s the Museum of Natural History’s description of the shot:

“This image of a sunlit mass of emperor penguins charging upwards, leaving a crisscross of bubble trails, was taken at the edge of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Paul lowered himself into a likely exit hole and locked his legs under the lip of the ice, motionless, with frozen fingers, using a snorkel so as not to spook the penguins when they arrived.”

The CG Photo Club has featured Nicklen’s work in the past.

The Museum of Natural History is selling prints and merchandise of the winning photos on their website.