National Geographic Traveler has announced the winners of its 2013 Traveler Photo Contest - and the results are as moving and imaginative as you'd expect.

The magazine hailed the standard of entries to their annual photo competition, now in its 25th year, and announced Wagner Araujo of Belo Horizonte, Brazil as the overall winner.

His winning photo, Dig Me River, (below), captures Brazilian Aquathlon participants running into the Rio Negro. For his prize, Araujo will travel to the Galápagos with National Geographic Expeditions to experience up-close encounters with unique species such as domed giant tortoises, sea lions, flightless cormorants and marine iguanas.

Over 15,000 people entered this year's awards, with images judged on their creativity and photographic quality.

"Every year the task of judging the contest gets tougher. The quality of photos increasingly gets better — and the range of imagery more diverse. It’s exciting to see the emergence of such huge numbers of imaginative photographers," said Keith Bellows, National Geographic Traveler magazine editor in chief.

Scroll down to see the winning images from the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest or click here to see the photos in full. The images will appear in the Dec. 2013/Jan. 2014 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.

First Place: Dig me river

Uplifting travel photography