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

Wasibi, (r), yawns at backstage before the Algonquin Hotel’s Annual Cat Fashion Show in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., August 1, 2019. The theme of this year's show was “It's a Small World”. The cats represented countries including Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

Brave slackliners have been pictured walking the ropes above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 15, 2016, with the half a mile drop showing the city in all its glory. The stunning shots show the daredevils tread across an eighty-two-foot-long high line on Pedra da Gvea mountain with an amazing sunrise illuminating the city landscape behind. (Photo by Rafael Moura/Caters News Agency)

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)

Getting her tongue pierced was “exciting and scary” says a teen who succumbed to pressure from her best friend in Austin, Texas, February 22, 2008. This image is featured in National Geographic's exhibition “Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment”, on view at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Jan. 22 - Mar. 22, 2015. (Photo by Kitra Cahana/National Geographic)

Vancouver B.C. April 20, 2014 Big Day to celebrate as thousand gathered in front of Vancouver Art Gallery to take part in the 420 Marijuana smoke in here in Vancouver on April 20, 2014. Here lots of free “joints” ready for the big moment. (Photo by Mark van Manen/PNG Staff Photographer/Ian Austin Province News/Vancouver Sun News & Web stories)

Pakistani volunteers carry an injured passenger following a bomb blast in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. A bomb ripped through a bus carrying Pakistani government employees in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, killing a number of people, police said. (Photo by Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)

In this April 12, 2015 photo, Sayed Ahmed Abdoh poles his boat to check his fish traps in the Nile River, near Abu al-Nasr village, about 770 kilometers (480 miles) south of Cairo, Egypt. Abdoh caught some 20 fish this day and gave them to his friend, Salama Osman, a migrant worker in a Cairo apartment building, to celebrate his biannual return to their village. (Photo by Hiro Komae/AP Photo)