Children play on an uprooted tree along a beach in Mele, Vanuatu that was once lined with vegetation, now largely lost to storms, erosion and other environmental pressures on Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Photo by Annika Hammerschlag/AP Photo)

This spiky tenrec was spotted in Madagascar’s Mantadia National Park in the last decade of September 2025. Mostly nocturnal and rarely seen, it puffs out its spines when threatened. Spiky tenrecs are excellent swimmers — unlike most spiny mammals, some species of tenrec can forage in streams and rivers, using their spines for protection while hunting aquatic insects and small prey. (Photo by Dale Morris/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A child sits in a walkway at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo)

People paly with fireworks during Parrandas de Camajuani, Cuba on March 22, 2025. Two neighborhoods of the city, San Jose, represented by a toad, and Santa Teresa, represented by a goat, fight with carnival shows that involve the whole town in a party with bands, huge floats and fireworks. The Parrandas de Camajuani with more than 130 years, are recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2018. (Photo by Yamil Lage/AFP Photo)

Soldiers ask a tourist to evacuate Mirador beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival in Tulum, Mexico, July 4, 2024. (Photo by Fernando Llano/AP Photo)

Beau Blades poses for photo at Mulletfest 2025 Grand Final at the Chelmsford Hotel on December 06, 2025 in Kurri Kurri, Australia. Hundreds of mullet enthusiasts from across Australia and internationally converged at Chelmsford Hotel in the Hunter Valley for the Mulletfest Grand Final, where competitors vied for the coveted title of “Best Mullet of Them All” across multiple categories ranging from junior to extreme styles. (Photo by George Chan/Getty Images)

America in the 1970s: Texas. Motorcyclist loading his possessions onto a truck with the help of his friends in Leakey, May 1973. (Photo by Marc St. Gil/NARA via The Atlantic)

Second Place Winner: “Thunderstorm at False Kiva”. I hiked out to these ruins at night hoping to photograph them with the Milky Way, but instead a thunderstorm rolled through, creating this dramatic image. – Max Seigal. National Geographic Traveler Director of Photography Dan Westergren, one of this year's judges, shares his thoughts on the second place winner: “This photo combines two different scenes into one: the small kiva in a cliff dwelling and the grand vista of Canyonlands National Park across the valley. I really like the two different color palettes – warm inside and purple outside. This two-for-one scene was caused by the lightning storm outside the dwelling, which lit up the landscape like it was a huge electronic flash. Looking at this picture I can imagine what a wonderful sight it must have been for the ancient people who lived here. It doesn't seem too amazing now in our modern world, but might have been mind-blowing for the prehistoric residents”. Location: Utah. (Photo and caption by Max Seigal/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)