Since 2003, photographer Sergey Fomin has been shooting Russia’s most attractive natural, historical, and architectural objects from different aircrafts. Photo: “An Explosive Scene”. The 1,486-meter-high Karymskii Volcano in Kamchatka. (Photo by Sergey Fomin)

Horse riders perform during the 23rd Hassan II Trophy of Traditional Equestrian Arts (Tbourida) in Rabat, Morocco, 28 May 2024. Tbourida was inscribed in 2021 on UNESCO's representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. (Photo by Jalal Morchidi/EPA)

Hundreds of onlookers descended upon White Rock beach, just south of Vancouver, Canada, on June 12, 2012 to mourn a beached whale that died on the sandy tidal flats. (Photo by Nick Procaylo/PNG/PNG Merlin Archive)

Honorable Mention: “The Storm”. During I was taking photo with my nephew, the storm came and I caught this beautiful moment. Photo location: Kocaeli, Turkey. (Photo and caption by Aytül Akbaş/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Pangolins in Crisis: Brent Stirton, South Africa; 1st place, Natural world and wildlife. “Pangolins are the world’s most illegally trafficked mammals, with an estimated one million trafficked to Asia in the last 10 years. Their scales are used in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine, and their meat is sold as a high-priced delicacy. As a result, pangolins are listed as critically endangered and anyone who trades or consumes them is breaking the law. This body of work exposes the trade, while exploring aspects of illegality and celebrating the people who are trying to save these animals”. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Sony World Photography Awards 2020)

Andrey Karr from Western Riders Slacklines at sunset above big waves in Nazare, Portugal on December 27, 2017. (Photo by Aidan Williams/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest)

A snow moon rears above a sycamore tree at Burrow Hill Cider Farm in Somerset, UK in the last decade of February 2024. (Photo by Jeff Overs/The Times)