A surfer falls from their board a day after Tropical Storm Hilary swept through the area with large waves hitting south-facing beaches in Huntington Beach, California, on August 21, 2023. Tropical Storm Hilary drenched Southern California with record rainfall, shutting down schools, roads and businesses before edging in on Nevada on August 21, 2023. California Governor Gavin Newsom had declared a state of emergency over much of the typically dry area, where flash flood warnings remained in effect until this morning. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)

Daniel Fox inside the Mendenhall Glacier, in September 2014, in Juneau, Alaska. Driving in an open-roofed jeep is no longer the fashionable way to see wildlife – as this adventurer shows. A keen wildlife photographer has circled islands in the south of Alaska, the United States, in a kayak to see spectacular scenery and animals. Daniel Fox, 40, from San Francisco spent three months travelling around the islands by kayak, meeting sea lions and brown bears along the way. (Photo by Daniel Fox/Barcroft Media)

A milk custard bun made to resemble one of the popular Japanese “Kobitos” characters is squeezed during a display for the photographer at Dim Sum Icon restaurant in Hong Kong, China July 25, 2016. A dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong encourages diners to play with their food, and the result will either disgust or delight you. At Dim Sum Icon customers can squeeze a strange creature to poo or vomit on their plate before eating it. Hungry punters poke a hole into the mouth – or the rear – of the dim sum with a chopstick, squeeze it and watch the brown or white cream ooze out. The unique dim sums are made with a face to resemble Japanese Kobitos characters. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A brown-hooded kingfisher sits on a branch with a freshly caught frog in it's beak. Riaan Marais who took the photo said, “We were doing a boat safari on the Rufiji river in Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania when I spotted the bird with the frog on an overhanging branch on the river bank. It most probably caught the frog in the reeds along the river’s edge as this is where these frogs stay. The kingfisher must have caught the Common Reed Frog just before I took the image, as the frog was still alive, I had a brief moment to take the image before the bird flew off with the frog”. (Photo by Riaan Marais/Solent News and Photo Agency)

It's that time of year again when dogs with unusually large heads, hairless bodies and other oddities compete to be the World's Ugliest Dog. This year's winner? A 2-year-old mutt named Peanut, whose wild white and brown hair, bulging eyes and protruding teeth belie his sweet, energetic personality. Peanut's owner, Holly Chandler of Greenville, North Carolina, says he was seriously burned as a puppy and she wants to use her pet to raise awareness about animal abuse. She plans to use the $1,500 prize to pay for other animals' veterinary bills. The contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California, is in its 26 year. The dogs are scored by a three-judge panel in several categories, including special or unusual attributes, personality and natural ugliness.

Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

“The red panda (Ailurus fulgens, or shining-cat), is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorous and may also eat eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day”. – Wikipedia

Photo: In this handout image provided by Taronga Zoo, Seba, a baby Red Panda, explores his new home at Taronga Zoo on April 7, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The Red Panda cub was born at Christmas and is the 45th to be born at the zoo since 1977. (Photo by Peter Hardin/Taronga Zoo via Getty Images)