(Image: Richard Shucksmith)

A disappointing day turned into an award-winner for photographer Richard Shucksmith when he captured this image of an otter’s bizarre puffin snack in the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

After hours of uneventful otter-watching, Shucksmith and his companions were heading home when they noticed a puffin diving close to where one of the furry creatures had jumped in the water. “That would be interesting, if the otter caught the puffin, never seen that before,” Shucksmith recalls thinking. Sadly for the puffin, the photographer got his wish, and the otter soon surfaced with this colourful-billed bird grasped in its mouth.

The photo won in the animal behaviour category of this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards. An exhibition of the winning and commended entries will open on 2 September at the Mall Galleries in London before touring the UK.