At 10,582 square kilometres, the Bolivian salt flats – otherwise known as Salar de Uyuni – are the largest on the planet and contain between 50 and 70% of the world’s lithium reserves. After exploring Chile and Argentina, photographer Joel Santos decided to travel to Bolivia in January 2017 to check the salt flats off his bucket list. With an electrical storm rolling in, Joel and his two travelling companions were the only souls left on the vast flats and captured the eerie flats without a person in sight. (Photo by Joel Santos/Barcroft Images)

The sea leopard. The Antarctic Peninsula. (Photo by Paul Nicklen)

A chimpanzee looks in the direction of a camera at the Gut Aiderbichl Sanctuary for Traumatized Chimpanzees and other Primates in Gaenserndorf, near Vienna, 17 September 2018. 34 former laboratory chimpanzees of former Austrian pharmaceutical company Immuno AG spend their lives at the Gut Aiderbichl Sanctuary for Traumatized Chimpanzees and other Primates since 2009. (Photo by Christian Bruna/EPA/EFE)

Members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club warm up before swimming at the beach at Coney Island in New York, December 15, 2013. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Reuters)

An Iraqi soldier plays with an accordion found on the street while on patrol in the western neighborhood of Tamuz in Mosul on May 23, 2017, after the area was retaken during the ongoing offensive against Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

People search for shells on a beach in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar, 17 September 2020. International Coastal Cleanup Day is observed annually on the third Saturday of September and will occur on 19 September this year. (Photo by Nyunt Win/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Fishermen carry calabashes to attend Argungu fishing and cultural festival at Argungu Town, Kebbi State in northwestern Nigeria, on March 14, 2020. Argungu fishing and cultural festival is one of the oldest and most widely attended festivals in the country dating back many generations, featuring series of water competitions and traditional games. The festival returned after 10 years suspension due to insecurity in northwest Nigeria. (Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP Photo)

Monkeys sit along a street during a snowfall in Ayubia, some 75 km north of Islamabad, Pakistan on January 7, 2020. (Photo by Aamir Qureshi/AFP Photo)