See some of the best photos from National Geographic's 'Pictures of the Year'

National Geographic released its annual "Pictures of the Year" issue this week, showcasing 20 photographs — out of some 2.3 million in contention — that depict striking scenes of nature, wildlife and human connection to the world.

Here are CNBC's picks of the best of the best.

Atka Bay, Antarctica

With "a lot of persistence and even more luck," Bertie Gregory managed to capture the moment a young emperor penguin jumped off a 50-foot cliff for its first swim.

Emperor penguins have been increasingly moving from low-lying ice to higher, more permanent ice shelves as climate change changes their environment, according to National Geographic.

These chicks, whose parents left them a month earlier, are learning to hunt on their own, it said.

Konstanz, Germany

At Germany's University of Konstanz, photographer Ingo Arndt closely watched an ant colony that would normally be hidden in the forest.

She was there to capture this hatchling crack open its cocoon with its jaws, after which adult females helped to break it free from the rest of the cocoon.

"To take this picture, it was necessary to work under controlled conditions in a laboratory. I built a mini-wood ant nest there, and so I was able to take this picture with a lot of patience," said Arndt. 

Nanyuki, Kenya

In January, scientists at the BioRescue project transferred a southern white rhino embryo into a southern white rhino female. But before the pregnancy was confirmed, the rhino died from a bacterial infection. The scientists later discovered the 70-day-old fetus.

Still, scientists are hopeful that that the successful impregnation may help efforts to save the Northern white rhino, which is on the brink of extinction. Only two are left, according to National Geographic.

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