Polar frame, by Dmitry Kokh, Russia. When Kokh’s boat approached the small island of Kolyuchin in the Russian High Arctic, which had been abandoned by humans since 1992, he was surprised to spot movement in one of the houses. Binoculars revealed polar bears – more than 20 in total – exploring the ghost town. Dmitry used a low-noise drone to document them. (Photo by Dmitry Kokh/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022)

A woman carries portraits of Red Army soldiers during the celebrations of Victory Day, which marks the 78th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Almaty, Kazakhstan on May 9, 2023. (Photo by Pavel Mikheyev/Reuters)

A juvenile European starling hops from deer to deer eating insects. The white-tailed deer did not seem at all bothered by the bird - who can be seen cleaning it of ticks and bugs. The starling was one of a flock near the herd of deer in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, USA in the last decade of November 2025. (Photo by Erik Kessler/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A view through mist shows the Kirk of Saint Mary Magdalene in Primorsk, Leningrad Region, Russia on March 24, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Democratic Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez poses with a campaign worker during a whistle stop in Queens, New York, November 5, 2018. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

People look at a funnel cloud formed near the beach in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, September 21, 2020. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

Elephants forage for food at a rubbish dump encroaching on their jungle habitat in Oluvil, Sri Lanka in September 2020. Examination of dead elephants has revealed undigested polythene and other plastic waste. (Photo by Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

This photo taken late on February 21, 2021 in Milo, near Catania, Sicily, and obtained on February 22, 2021 from Italian news agency Ansa, shows lava flowing along the sides of the southern crater of the Etna volcano as a new eruptive episode of tall lava fountains, known as paroxysm, occurred. (Photo by ANSA/Handout via AFP Photo)