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From a king colony of penguins to a hummingbird confronting a viper, these National Geographic Photographs of the Extraordinary will blow your mind

National Geographic have released their rarely seen before breathtaking snaps and they're extraordinary

NATIONAL Geographic have released their rarely seen before photographs and they are breathtaking.

Yesterday the best snaps of 2016 were revealed and they ranged from landscapes to destruction and the human angle - but today the unseen winners have been unveiled.

 National Geographic have released their rarely see photos for this year
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National Geographic have released their rarely see photos for this yearCredit: National Geographic

For the best photos of 2016, the curators viewed a massive 2,290,225 photographs from 91 photographers with 107 stories behind each one.

But these were the ones that just missed out on the top spot, which was eventually won by , who captured parts of the Yellowstone region in Wyomin.

These snaps capture moments that have been rarely seen before and range from birds to people and butterflies.

 Charlie Hamilton James winning photo of a grizzly bear fends of vultures closing in on a carcass
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Charlie Hamilton James winning photo of a grizzly bear fends of vultures closing in on a carcassCredit: Charlie Hamilton James/National Geographic
 Gerd Ludwig's nontoxic plastic balls, they help deflect ultraviolet radiation from the Ivanhoe Reservoir
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Gerd Ludwig's nontoxic plastic balls, they help deflect ultraviolet radiation from the Ivanhoe ReservoirCredit: Gerd Ludwig/National Geographic
 Robert Clark photo of a Jacobin pigeon with it's feathers surrounding it's head
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Robert Clark photo of a Jacobin pigeon with it's feathers surrounding it's headCredit: Robert Clark/National Geographic
 Frans Lanting's sea of king penguins stretched out to meet the hills on South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean
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Frans Lanting's sea of king penguins stretched out to meet the hills on South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic OceanCredit: Frans Lanting/National Geographic
 Bence Máté's picture of a green-crowned brilliant hummingbird and a green pit viper looking eye to eye
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Bence Máté's picture of a green-crowned brilliant hummingbird and a green pit viper looking eye to eyeCredit: Bence Máté/National Geographic
 Sisse Brimberg's ecotourists set up behind orange safety cones to photograph a lone Adélie penguin waddling on the ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctic Sound
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Sisse Brimberg's ecotourists set up behind orange safety cones to photograph a lone Adélie penguin waddling on the ice in the Weddell Sea, Antarctic SoundCredit: Sisse Brimberg & Cotton Coulson/National Geographi
 Chi Lui's photograph of a male peacock looking almost as if the artist isn’t finished yet
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Chi Lui's photograph of a male peacock looking almost as if the artist isn’t finished yetCredit: Chi Lui/National Geographic
 Erlend Haarberg's photo of a great white egret’s bill mimicking a sharp pair of chopsticks as it snags a fish from the water
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Erlend Haarberg's photo of a great white egret’s bill mimicking a sharp pair of chopsticks as it snags a fish from the waterCredit: Erlend Haarberg/National Geographic
 Joel Sartore's picture of millions of the butterflies logging after they've migrated
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Joel Sartore's picture of millions of the butterflies logging after they've migratedCredit: Joel Sartore/National Geographic
 Bobby Haas captured flamingos in the Gulf of Mexico naturally arranging themselves into a flamingo
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Bobby Haas captured flamingos in the Gulf of Mexico naturally arranging themselves into a flamingoCredit: Bobby Haas/National Geographic
 Ingo Arndt's picture of a male Vogelkop bowerbird, who has collected colourful flowers and fruits to decorate his cone-shaped bower in the Arfak Mountains of Papua New Guinea
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Ingo Arndt's picture of a male Vogelkop bowerbird, who has collected colourful flowers and fruits to decorate his cone-shaped bower in the Arfak Mountains of Papua New GuineaCredit: Ingo Arndt/National Geographic
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