Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner. Tanya Houppermans, Cuba. A curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swims right up to Tanya, at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina), an archipelago off the coast of Cuba. It has been strictly protected since 1996, and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. ‍ “The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves and I wanted to capture close ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat. I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical”. (Photo by Tanya Griffin Houppermans/Mangrove Photographer of the Year)

A Palestinian boy, who was displaced by Israel's military offensive with his family on south Gaza, holds a cat as he attempts to return to his home in north Gaza through an Israeli checkpoint, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Ramadan Abed/Reuters)

Sunrise over the River Thames and Tower Bridge in London today morning on January 28, 2024. It has been forecast that Sahara dust will be in the atmosphere. (Photo by Alister Gooding/Picture Exclusive)

A frozen public bench is seen next to a lake side due to the heavy wind conditions in Geneva February 8, 2015. (Photo by Pierre Albouy/Reuters)

Chinese relative of a missing passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts as she weeps outside the main gate of the Lama Temple on March 8, 2015 in Beijing, China. Foreign and local media were prevented by Chinese police from covering the relatives visit to the temple where they tried to pray .There were 239 people on board the flight when it disappeared March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. After one year and an exhaustive search, investigators still have no clue as to the whereabouts of the missing airliner. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A) 1st place WINNER – Roy Rimmer. “This rat was in an outdoor set I made, the set up is two meters long and a meter wide made of Perspex,it has a plywood front with holes cut in for my camera and flash guns, I placed two rusty paint cans in the set up and the rat would leap from one can too the other, I had to use flash to freeze the action”.

American soldiers leaping from an armoured personnel carrier during exercises in Korea, 17th March 1954. (Photo by Three Lions)

A man dressed in Christmas garb smokes a hand-rolled cigarette, Thursday, December 24, 2020, in Times Square on Christmas Eve in New York. (Photo by Kathy Willens/AP Photo)