Khadjou Sambe, 25, surfs off the coast of Ngor, Dakar, Senegal, August 18, 2020. Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Sambe never saw a Black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal's first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves as a surfing coach for local girls. “When I am in the water I feel something extraordinary, something special in my heart”, Sambe said. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Hot-air balloons float over the Oka River during the Russian Sky International Balloon Festival in Ryazan Region, Russia on July 26, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Ryumin/TASS)

Indian young men wearing traditional folk dance “Bhangra” attire of Punjab, sit on see-saws and sip on soft drinks at a park before their performance during the Khalsa College International Folk Festival 2017 in Amritsar, India, 29 November 2017. The festival is aimed to promote cultural ties between India and participating countries. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/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)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Arctic treasure by Sergey Gorshkov (Russia). An arctic fox carries its egg trophy from a raid on a snow goose nest and heads for a suitable burial spot. Finalist 2017, Animal Portraits. (Photo by Sergey Gorshkov/2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

Sunrise in Ely, Cambridgeshire on April 15, 2020 by the River Great Ouse, England. The warm weather is set to continue until the weekend. (Photo by Veronica Johansson Poultney/Bav Media)

A rose chafer in Oxfordshire, UK on July 8, 2024. The beetles are often seen on flowers in the garden and are sometimes maligned for munching their way through these plants. However, they are an important detritivore as they feed on dead and decaying matter and recycle its nutrients, which makes a helpful addition to any compost. (Photo by Geoffrey Swaine/Rex Features/Shutterstock)