Winter swimmers dressed in ballet costumes pose for a photo before diving into the icy water, during a snowfall at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China on February 15, 2019. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

Aline, along with other rangers and park staff visit the gorilla's in the parks Mikeno sector, where the majority of the gorilla families live in Virunga National Park. Therefore there has been a surge of poaching and violence in the area. For the first time, women have taken up the most dangerous job in wildlife, becoming para-military rangers at the Virunga National Park in DR Congo. (Photo by Monique Jaques)

Afghan internally-displaced girls plays with dolls near their tents at Shaidayee refugee camp in Injil district of Herat province on February 20, 2022. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

A Taliban security personnel stands guard as Afghan burqa-clad women wait in queue in the midst of a downpour to receive food supplies donated during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Kabul on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

Mario Barrios, left, fights Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight title boxing match Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

A relative of a Chinese passenger aboard the Malaysia Airlines MH370, covers his face after being told the latest update in Beijing, China, Monday, March 24, 2014. A new analysis of satellite data indicates the missing Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into a remote corner of the Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Monday. The news is a major breakthrough in the unprecedented two-week struggle to find out what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared shortly after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard on March 8. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Brian Skerry can be called many things – explorer, journalist, conservation advocate – but he is first and foremost a photographer. His journeys to capture amazing underwater photographs have taken him across the world’s oceans. Photo: This Bahamian oceanic whitetip shark, known for the distinctive coloring on its white-tipped, rounded extremities, is part of a globally threatened species due to overfishing demands, primarily for its fins. (Photo by Brian Skerry)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)