Visitors to West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, UK on October 17, 2023 are enjoying the bright October sunshine ahead of the storms to come. A curious giraffe meets eye to eye with a car full of happy visitors while licking the car windscreen with his long tongue. (Photo by Lee Hudson/Alamy Live News)

Actress Michelle Rodriguez attends the Shane Black 9th annual Hallowen party held on October 31, 2003 in Hancock Park, Los Angeles. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

A demonstrator takes part during a rally against Chile's government on the second anniversary of the protests and riots that rocked the capital in 2019, in Santiago, Chile, October 18, 2021. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

Nigel Cox and Kevin Jay paint with light using fibre optic whips on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, United Kingdom on July 25, 2023 with a superhero fighting theme. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

Mortuary workers walk past a Christmas tree as they remove the body of an elderly person who died of COVID-19 from a nursing home in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, December 23, 2020. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

A participant takes part at performance of Mexican dance academy to protest against authorities due not allow freedom of labor union during the celebration of International Dance Day at Palace of Fine Arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes) on April 29, 2021 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Eyepix/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Sport category, winner: Yuan Peng. Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie are twin sisters who have studied and trained in gymnastics since their early childhood in Jining, China. (Photo by Yuan Peng/Sony World Photography Awards)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)