A Hindu holy man with his face smears with ash and vermilion powder adjusts his head gear sitting at the courtyard of the Pashupatinath Temple during Shivaratri festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, March 4, 2019. Shivaratri, or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A grasshopper rests on a photographic camera during a meeting in the village of Alto Jamari called to face the threat of armed land grabbers invading the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous Reservation near Campo Novo de Rondonia, Brazil on January 30, 2019. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

An RNLI Lifeboat crashes through waves during a multi-agency exercise to test emergency response, at Camber Sands, East Sussex, England, Thursday, September 28, 2023. The multi-agency exercise, organised by South East Coast Ambulance Service, (SECAmb) also includes Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Rother District Council, HM Coastguard and RNLI Lifeguards. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Wire via AP Photo)

Pink flamingos are silhouetted and reflected in water at sunset in the Camargue regional natural park in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Southern France, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Manon Cruz/Reuters)

Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

Members of rival teams fight with oranges during an annual carnival battle in the northern Italian town of Ivrea, Italy on February 11, 2018. Established in 1808, the Carnival of Ivrea is one of the oldest and most particular festivals in the world. (Photo by Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters)

Gray whale feeding at the surface and showing it's baleen. (Photo by Christopher Swann/Biosphoto)