Award-winning photographer Alex Bernasconi has captured thousands of images – from hiding hippos to wandering zebras – in his travels across Africa. His amazing work features in a new edition of his book Wild Africa. These amazing pictures create a snapshot of the life of some of the planet’s most spectacular animals and natural habitats. Photo: “Wild Africa”. (Photo by Alex Bernasconi)

An open water swimmer surfaces as she enjoys a socially-distanced dawn swim after breaking the ice on the surface of a lake near Scunthorpe, northern England, January 9, 2021. Faced by a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, driven by the new strain, England entered a strict lockdown on January 5, 2021, with schools and non-essential shops closed for at least six weeks after previous measures failed to halt the steep rise in cases. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby/AFP Photo)

A camel calf is seen among a herd in the desert near Dakhla in Morocco-administered Western Sahara, on October 13, 2019. In the Oued Eddahab desert in Western Sahara, Habiboullah Dlimi raises dairy and racing camels just like his ancestors used to, but with a little help from modern technology. While his animals roam free and are milked traditionally, by hand, at dawn and dusk, they are watched over by hired herders and Dlimi follows GPS coordinates across the desert in a 4X4 vehicle to reach them. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

Fifty-year-old Palestinian Nizar al-Dabbas, a “Musaharati” who plays the traditional role of “Ramadan drummer”, awakens Muslims for the pre-dawn traditional “suhur” meal before the start of the following day's fast, during the holy month of Ramadan in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip early on April 5, 2022. (Photo by Said Khatib/AFP Photo)

The images were taken off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific. Photographer Grant Thomas said: “Through my images I aim to show off the amazing life we have on our planet in hope of inspiring more people to experience it for themselves and, most importantly, care for it”. (Photo by Grant Thomas/Caters News Agency)

It’s the United States of Air-merica! Pilot Jassen Todorov from San Francisco spent three weeks flying across eight states in a 1976 Piper Warrior plane to capture the this shots – from deep craters in Arizona’s red desert and the swamps and wetlands in Florida and Louisiana, that look like they could be on alien planets, to freeways and stretches of suburban Texas. Here: El Paso, Texas at sunset. (Photo by Jassen Todorov/Caters News)

These may look like alien creatures from another planet, but the odd organisms are, in fact, colorful, microscopic life forms found in our forests. The bizarre slime molds, known as mycetozoa or fungus animals, were captured by geologist Valeriya Zvereva. She spent months documenting the common life forms that are found beneath our feet – but are rarely seen. Incredibly, the organisms can move and hunt for other microscopic life forms on which to feed. Zvereva, who is from Moscow, used a special macro lens to capture the vibrant and up-close shots, which show off the organisms’ unlikely beauty. (Photo by Valeriya Zvereva/Caters News)

Israeli soldiers pray at dawn as the conflict between Palestine and Gaza enters its seventh day on November 20, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches more than 100 and also three Israelis killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Christopher Furlong)