Guardian of the Mangroves – Overall Winner. Tanya Houppermans, Cuba. A curious American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) swims right up to Tanya, at Gardens of the Queen (Jardines De La Reina), an archipelago off the coast of Cuba. It has been strictly protected since 1996, and is one of the most untouched marine ecosystems in the world. ‍ “The healthy population of American crocodiles is down to the pristine condition of the mangroves and I wanted to capture close ups of this gentle giant in its natural habitat. I hope this image can illustrate that protecting areas like this is so critical”. (Photo by Tanya Griffin Houppermans/Mangrove Photographer of the Year)

Cristiano Ronaldo's fiancee Georgina Rodriguez in the second decade of August 2025 took social media by storm. (Photo by Instagram)

Argentine-Spanish singer Nathy Peluso brings her Club Grasa set to life at the Boiler Room x PATRÓN Tequila debut event in Ibiza, Spain on August 14th, 2025. (Photo by Boiler Room)

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)

Giant pandas enjoy food around a table at Chongqing Zoo, Chongqing, China on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Military vehicles surround a wreckage of a trolleybus, in Volgograd, Russia, Monday, December 30, 2013. A bomb blast tore through a trolleybus in the city of Volgograd on Monday morning, killing at least 10 people a day after a suicide bombing that killed at least 17 at the city's main railway station. Volgograd is about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Sochi, where the Olympics are to be held. (Photo by Denis Tyrin/AP Photo)

Anglers cast lines through holes into a frozen river during an ice fishing competition at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival on January 7, 2012 in Hwacheon-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Charlene Wittstock (L) and Prince Albert II of Monaco (R) attend the singles Final match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Roger Federer of Switzerland on day nine of the Monte Carlo Masters Series tennis tournament. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images). 2008