Three Japanese tourists had to abandon plans to drive to Stradbroke Island off the Queensland coast when their hire car became bogged in mangrove mud, on March 15, 2012 near Stradbroke Island, Australia. (Photo by Chris McCormack/Fairfax Media).

Brazilians celebrate at the annual New Year's Eve beach party on December 31, 2011 for the Copacabana Reveillon in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Konrad Fiedler/Getty Images)

Novice DSLR (Digital single-lens reflex camera), 2nd Place. “Smile of a Friend”, American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) in Jucaro, Cuba. (Photo by Antonio Pastrana/The Ocean Art 2018 Underwater Photography Competition)

Human Connection Award: People and Planet Ocean – Winner – Steve Woods. A free diver interacts with a sperm whale among a cloud of sargassum weed, Dominica. (Photo by Steve Woods/Ocean Photographer of the Year 2022)

Saira Liaqat, 22, a victim of acid violence who was burned 4 years ago, poses in Islamabad, June 11, 2007. Saira is from Lahore and was attacked with acid thrown on her over an argument relating to an arranged marriage. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG, skippered by Ken Read from the USA, sails past the Guan Yin of the South Sea of Sanya, at the start of leg 4 of the Volvo Ocean Race 2011-12 on February 19, 2012 from Sanya, China to Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Paul ToddVolvo Ocean Race via Getty Images)

Brian Skerry can be called many things – explorer, journalist, conservation advocate – but he is first and foremost a photographer. His journeys to capture amazing underwater photographs have taken him across the world’s oceans. Photo: This Bahamian oceanic whitetip shark, known for the distinctive coloring on its white-tipped, rounded extremities, is part of a globally threatened species due to overfishing demands, primarily for its fins. (Photo by Brian Skerry)