Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Visitors enjoy a camel ride at Sea View beach in Karachi on June 16, 2023, after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall. More than 180,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat and Pakistan's neighbouring Sindh province fled the path of Biparjoy – which means “disaster” in Bengali – before it made landfall on June 15 evening. (Photo by Asif Hassan/AFP Photo)

A worker harvests rice in the Sakon Nakhon province of Thailand in the last decade of January 2024. (Photo by Natnattcha Chaturapitamorn/Solent News)

English television presenter Maya Jama attends The Fashion Awards 2022 at the Royal Albert Hall on December 05, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Backgrid UK)

A girl wears a cheongsam during a fashion show at a shopping mall in South Tangerang, Banten province, Indonesia on February 8, 2024. (Photo by Sulthony Hasanuddin/Antara Foto via Reuters)

Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy competes in the Men's 50m Breaststroke Final on day six of the 2022 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on December 18, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

A racegoer arrives for Ladies Day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meeting, at Ascot Racecourse in Ascot, England, Thursday, June 22, 2023. (Photo by Alastair Grant/AP Photo)

A rescued otter cub named Mingo is receiving specialist care after being found in July 2025 in the flamingo habitat at Colchester Zoo, far from where he should have been. He is being raised with two other cubs at the UK Wild Otter Trust’s centre in Devon, UK. (Photo by UK Wild Otter Trust/Cover Images)