With its huge eyes, comical name and diminutive size, Mark R. Smith’s image of a baby Hawaiian bobtail squid can’t help but raise a smile. A curiously endearing creature, the cephalopod is just 1.5cm across, its mantle cavity bearing more than a passing resemblance to a rather natty shower cap. But it is also a beautiful example of symbiosis – nature’s version of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” – for on the underside of the squid is a light organ which houses bioluminescent bacteria. The squid offers the bacteria protection and food, while the bacteria emit a glow – a handy trait that the squid uses to offset its silhouette, helping it to evade predators in the depths below. Mark R. Smith’s entry combines several images of a Hawaiian bobtail squid with different focus lengths to create a final picture with greater depth of field than normal. (Photo by Mark R. Smith/Wellcome Images/Macroscopic Solutions)

Train attendants attend an etiquette trainning as the May Day holiday approaches on April 26, 2022 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Su Zhigang/VCG via Getty Images)

People socialising in Soho, central London on July 11, 2020, after the lifting of further coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England. Revellers are urged to remember the importance of social distancing as pubs gear up for the second weekend of trade since the lifting of lockdown measures. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images)

American singer, dancer, and media personality Ashley Roberts seen leaving Glamour Women Of The Year Awards at Outernet on November 08, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by (Photo by TOT/The Mega Agency)

American supermodel Bella Hadid (R) holds onto her friend's leg for dear life in the second decade of January 2023. (Photo by bellahadid/Instagram)

Nose to Nose; Human/Nature winner. “Doug Gimesy was documenting work at the Joey and Bat Sanctuary near Melbourne when he met a wombat (Vombatus ursinus) whose mother had been killed by a car. Gimesy watched as a young veterinary student bottle-fed the orphaned joey, then touched her nose to the joey’s in a tender moment of interspecies bonding”. (Photo by Doug Gimesy/BigPicture)

Aerial view of a clear and turbid landscape at the intersection of the Sanjiang Estuary during the flood season on July 4, 2023 in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. (Photo by Chen Guanyan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Undated handout photo issued by Carhenge Glastobury of the Carhenge installation by artist Joe Rush, on the site of Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset. Made of 24 vintage cars erected in the centre of the festival, the installation emulates the ancient stone structure at Stonehenge. Issue date: Tuesday, June 20, 2023. (Photo by Matt Cardy/PA Wire Press Association)