Playful: This image of male polar bears play fighting at Cape Churchill, Canada, was taken by Thomas D. Mangelsen and is among 40 selected for a 'green auction' today Dancing polar bears and giant tortoises gathered at dawn in the Galapagos are among the images selected for a collection of the greatest nature photographs of all time.
The collection of 40 pictures, many of which will be on sale as part of Christie's first 'Green Auction' in New York to mark Earth Day, stretch across more than 100 years of photography.
They include underwater images of water lilies, sea lions, a thresher shark caught in a fishing net and a herd of elephants reflected in a lake at twilight.
There are also black and white images of landscapes and wildlife, an image of the Earth viewed from space over the horizon of the moon and a picture of a chimpanzee reaching out its hand to famed conservationist Jane Goodall.
The images assembled in an online gallery include shots by black and white landscape artist Ansel Adams, National Geographic magazine editor-in-chief Chris Johns, Pulitzer Prize-winning landscape photographer Jack Dykinga and underwater specialist Brian Skerry.
Twilight of the giants: Photographer Frans Lanting captured elephants gathering by a lake in Botswana 
Force of nature: Water lilies captured at midday by Frans Lanting in the Okavango Delta in Botswana They were chosen by members of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) on the basis of factors such as aesthetics, uniqueness, historical significance and contribution to conservation efforts.
Funds raised from the green auction will go to four conservation organisations - Conservation International, Oceana, the Natural Resources Defence Council and the Central Park Conservancy.
The ILCP's executive director Justin Black, said it was 'no easy task' to select just 40 images for the collection.
Graceful: David Doubilet's photograph of Australian sea lions playing the the sea grass beds off Little Hopkins Island 
Helpless: A thresher shark caught in a net in Mexico's Gulf of California, by Brian Skerry 'No doubt, there are other notable and worthy photographs that could have secured a spot in the top 40 gallery.
'But this diverse cross-section clearly demonstrates the power of photographs to educate, enlighten, inspire, and stir us into action to protect our limited natural resources.'
The organisation's president Cristina Mittermeier said: 'One of the brightest contributions of photography to the preservations of special landscapes and creatures around the world is that images are able to shed light on some of the darkest, most remote corners of our planet.
'I've seen first-hand how photographs like these arrest the eye, invite reflection, provoke emotion and become a shared experience that gifts us with a larger vision of the world.'
Tranquil: Tortoises at dawn in the Galapagos Islands, another of Frans Lanting's images
Powerful: Peter Dombrovskis's photograph shows the morning mist at Rock Island Bend, Franklin River in Tasmania, Australia source:dailymail
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