Beltrá's image of pelicans rescued from the Deep Water Horizon oil spill awaiting cleaning in a facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana was described by judge Mark Carwardine as making "art out of disaster," and the miserable state of the birds being made "more shocking by their beauty."

"The pelicans are going through the first stage of cleaning," explains Beltrá of the photograph, "they've already been sprayed with a light oil to break up the heavy crude trapped in their feathers, which has turned their normally pale heads orange and their brown and grey feathers mahogany."

The equipment Beltrá used to capture the winning photograph is a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a 35mm f1.4 lens.

The Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year in the 11-14 Years category was scooped by Mateusz Pieslak for his photograph, titled "Pester Power" captured while prone on his stomach. The image is of American ostercatchers squabbling over food on a beach in Long Island, New York.

So absorbed was he in capturing the avian drama he didn't notice the incoming tide until a wave washed over him, he says. "I managed to hold my camera up high. I was cold and wet, with sand in my clothes, hair and ears, but I had my shot."

The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year is owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine and an exhibition of the winning photographs will open on Friday at the Natural History Museum.

More information can be found on the Natural History Museum website.