A snowboarder performs during the Red Bull Jump and Freeze competition at ski resort Shimbulak outside Almaty March 22, 2015. Participants wearing festive costumes perform tricks before getting into a pond with icy water. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Russian Orthodox believers take a dip in the ice cold water of a pond during the celebrations of the Orthodox Epiphany holiday, in Moscow, Russia on January 18, 2024. People believe that dipping into blessed waters during the holiday of Epiphany strengthens their spirit and body. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA/EFE)

“Eye of a toad”. Animal Portraits, Łukasz Bożycki, Poland. Early spring sees a pond near Łukasz’s home city of Warsaw, Poland, full of mating frogs and a few toads. On this March day, Łukasz shared the pond with them for an evening, sitting in the icy water in his chest-high waders, keeping as still as possible, despite the numbing cold, so that the amphibians could get used to him. “I wanted to find a fresh way of portraying the amphibians”, he says, “at water level”. Using a telephoto lens, he focused on one lone toad and waited for the sun to dip almost below the horizon before pressing the shutter, using flash to bring out the details in the shadow. His prize was “the glorious pool of sunset colour” and fiery glow of the toad’s eye. Nikon D80 + 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 lens + extension tube; 1/125 sec at f9 (-2.3 e/v); ISO 100; built-in flash. (Photo by Łukasz Bożycki)

An internally displaced woman collects water from a pond to construct a mud-house at the Aboushok camp in El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan, November 17, 2015. The conflict in Sudan's Darfur region that erupted 12 years ago shows no sign of ending. But it hasn't stopped displaced youngsters, some of whom have spent their entire lives in refugee camps, from dreaming big. Twelve children aged 12 explain their hopes and dreams for the future; ambitions include becoming a doctor, an engineer and a teacher. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

A Russian Orthodox believers dips in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany celebration in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, January 19, 2022. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers plunged into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. The temperature in St. Petersburg is –1C (30F). (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

The rarely seen blue sharks photographed by Saeed Rashid in British waters. Elusive blue sharks have recently been spotted off the south coast of England, having moved to the UKs warmer waters to hunt. The carnivorous sharks have been lurking off the coast of the popular British holiday destination, Penzance, in Cornwall. (Photo by Saeed Rashid/Caters News)

A stone giant exhausted after his long travels decided to rest a while and drink from a pond far below. He lay down and started drinking from the crystal clear pond. So delicious was the water that he was unable to quench his thirst no matter how much he tried. Weeks have passed, months, years. The body of the stone giant became one with the hills and even his tongue has turned to water. This might seem like a fairy tale, yet you’ll be able to see this stone giant if you ever come to Wattens, Austria. He’s still there, guarding the entrance to Swarovski Kristallwelted, otherwise known as the Crystal Worlds. This is a one-of-a-kind theme park that was created by the people who first created Swarovski crystals.

David and Lana Fechter have recently adopted two adorable Siberian bear cubs that were rejected by their mother at a Chicago zoo. The two nine-week-old male cubs, Lewis and Clark, are being kept in an inside closure and are being bottle fed. When the twins get bigger and more independent, they’ll be be given a large natural enclosure with ponds and ridges to live in at Shalom Wildlife Sanctuary.