A sea otter in the Great Bear Rainforest, off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada in the second decade of December 2024, appeared to be enjoying a relaxing swim as it preened its fur, the densest of any mammal. (Photo by Max Waugh/Solent News & Photo Agency)

A pine marten – one of a few wild mammals doing well in Britain (although they number just 3,700). A fifth of the country’s wild mammals are at high risk of extinction, research shows. (Photo by Maurice Flynn/The Mammal Society)

Dancers from “LA Dance Project” perform, wearing a mask, during the drive-in show “Solo at Dusk” in Los Angeles, California, on October 13, 2020, amid the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)

A pair of foxes seem happy to see each other in Zandvoort, the Netherlands in the last decade of September 2024. (Photo by Anna Stelloo/Solent News)

Vivid colors and bizarre shapes come together in a false-color image that could be an illustration for a fantasy story. This labyrinth of exotic features winds its way along the edge of Russia’s Chaunskaya Bay in northeastern Siberia, seen as a vivid blue half-circle at the bottom of the image Two major rivers, the Chaun and Palyavaam, flow into the bay, which in turn opens into the Arctic Ocean. Ribbon lakes and bogs are present throughout the area, created by depressions left by receding glaciers. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

A pelican on a lake in California in the first decade of January 2024 deftly snares a large trout after scooping it up, tossing it into the air and catching it in its bill. (Photo by Jiahong Zeng/Solent news)

Revellers gather for the start of the Annual SantaCon Bar Crawl at Father Duffy Square, a section of Times Square, on December 14, 2019, in New York City. SantCon is an event where people make donations to charitable causes and dress up as a Christmas character and visit bars around the city. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

A child is pictured with the face covered in blood during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon on August 19, 2021. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)